Brooks Koepka appears like he could possibly be entering into one other Ryder Cup setting, match play with bragging rights at stake, even when it’s solely two-man groups competing in a single match as an alternative of 12-man groups in 28 matches.
Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, every a significant champion the final two years whereas taking part in for LIV Golf, tackle Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy from the PGA Tour in a made-for-TV match at Shadow Creek in Nevada on Dec. 17.
Scheffler is the No. 1 participant on the planet rating after a nine-win season, which included one other Masters and an Olympic gold medal. He confronted off solely 4 occasions towards Koepka and DeChambeau.
Koepka was requested if Scheffler might have gained a lot had he confronted a full lineup of stars.
“Scottie had a hell of a yr. I feel it’s arguably the most effective years the Tour has ever seen,” Koepka mentioned Tuesday. “Bryson had a hell of a yr — he performed 10 occasions higher than I did. I performed with him sufficient to know what he might have executed on the PGA Tour. All of us have a very good really feel how we’d have fared on any tour.
“I feel he (Scheffler) would have gained plenty of his golf tournaments,” Koepka mentioned. “However I feel we’d have put up a very good combat. It could have been fascinating.”
He thinks “The Crypto.com Showdown” at Shadow Creek north of Las Vegas shall be sufficient to pique the curiosity of followers. Not solely is it a uncommon probability exterior the majors to see the very best from LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, it has that spirit of workforce aspect.
“Let’s be actual — wouldn’t you need to see a LIV versus PGA Tour Ryder Cup-style factor? That’s what it’s,” Koepka mentioned. “That is rising into an enormous factor. That’s what’s going to draw the followers.”
Aside from a couple of European tour occasions, the celebrities from LIV Golf and the PGA Tour meet solely 4 occasions a yr within the majors. The Public Funding Fund of Saudi Arabia, which funds LIV Golf, and PGA Tour Enterprises have been negotiating a industrial deal. Nonetheless to be decided is how a minority funding from PIF would reunite the golf world.
“What we’re doing is so distinctive for golf. It might begin one thing going into the long run,” Koepka mentioned.
The PGA Tour signed off on the Las Vegas match by giving Scheffler and McIlroy releases to play. It’s at the least a begin to extra appearances, even when neither Koepka nor DeChambeau has any thought what which may seem like.
“The showdown is a superb showcase for bringing the 2 excursions a bit collectively,” DeChambeau mentioned. “And I feel what we’re going to do subsequent yr, all of us aligned, is bringing one thing somewhat larger and badder, so we will have a few occasions — at the least yet another time — the place we will see a lot of the finest gamers on each side competing.”
