The 2018 US Ryder Cup team was arguably the most talented in the history of the event, but they were embarrassed by a European team that had better chemistry and seemed more interested in competing. The more we hear, the more it sounds like the trouble for Team USA started well before Friday afternoon’s foursomes sweep.
Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka reportedly got into a heated argument and nearly came to blows hours after the Ryder Cup ended, but a new report from French publication L’Equipe claims the issues between the two former U.S. Open champions began on the team plane from Atlanta to Paris prior to the event.
According to a translation of the story, US captain Jim Furyk asked Johnson and Koepka — who are said to be good friends — to put their differences aside for the better of the team. The two were originally supposed to play together in Friday afternoon foursomes, but Furyk ended up having to change his pairings because of the feud.
“The atmosphere was horrible, Jim Furyk was devastated,” a source told L’Equipe.
Johnson and Koepka ended up playing together in the Saturday afternoon foursomes, but they apparently had not smoothed things over at that point. That became evident when they nearly got into a physical altercation at a Team Europe afterparty.
In addition to the Johnson-Koepka drama, Patrick Reed called out both Furyk and Jordan Spieth after the Ryder Cup, criticizing Spieth for not wanting to be paired with him and Furyk for benching Reed in the second event on Friday.
The US falling to Europe in the Ryder Cup is nothing new, especially when they event takes place overseas. Still, the stuff that went on off the course this year is pretty embarrassing for the team. We saw how Twitter reacted when the Europeans turned things around, and we can only imagine what people would have said if they knew about all the drama.
