Brooks Koepka dismisses Dustin Johnson fight story

‘There was no fight, no argument. He’s one of my best friends. I love the kid to death’

Brooks Koepka has denied reports of a fight between himself and Dustin Johnson. Photograph: PA
Brooks Koepka has denied reports of a fight between himself and Dustin Johnson. Photograph: PA

Brooks Koepka insists there was no fight between himself and team-mate Dustin Johnson in the aftermath of Europe's convincing Ryder Cup victory over the United States in Paris.

Koepka and Johnson are regarded as good friends and live close to each other in Florida, but were reported to have clashed after being invited into the European team room following the biennial contest at Le Golf National.

“This Dustin thing I don’t get,” Koepka said at a press conference ahead of his appearance in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. “There was no fight, no argument.

“He’s one of my best friends. I love the kid to death. We talked on the phone Monday and yesterday so you tell me how we fought. People like to make a story and run with it. It’s not the first time there’s been a news story that isn’t true that’s gone out.”

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The reported fall-out between Koepka and Johnson was not the only sign of disharmony in the US team, with Masters champion Patrick Reed blaming Jordan Spieth for the end of their successful Ryder Cup partnership and claiming it was "not smart" for captain Jim Furyk to leave him out of two sessions.

“As far as camaraderie, it was fine, it was perfect,” Koepka added. “The problem is you guys (the media) try to find a reason why we lost and the simple reason is we just didn’t play good enough.

“We didn’t make the putts, hit the fairways, especially me. I lost two matches and halved another one. If I won those, if Tiger (Woods) wins his; Dustin lost one with me and then I think lost in the singles.

“If we play how we’re supposed to play we win, it’s simple as, but there’s nothing wrong with our team. Our team was great, Jim was great.”