Ryder Cup fight: Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson argument involved Paulina Gretzky, say reports
Reports claim the US teammates also clashed on a flight to Paris before the tournament, which created a ‘poisonous’ atmosphere in locker room
More details have emerged surrounding the Ryder Cup bust-up between Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, with multiple reports claiming Johnson’s fiancée Paulina Gretzky was a central figure in the incident.
The Daily Telegraph first reported the US teammates, who are close friends and workout partners, had to be pulled apart after getting into a heated exchange during a party in the European team’s locker room after the hosts’ 17.5-10.5 victory at Le Golf National near Paris.
One of the European players’ wives was said to be “clearly shocked and upset by the nastiness, which was very threatening”.
Golf Digest reports Gretzky and Koepka’s girlfriend Jena Sims were also involved in a row that is said to have been brewing since before the tournament began.
L’Equipe reported on Tuesday that Johnson and Koepka had a separate clash earlier in the week on the flight to Paris from the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
That argument, according to British newspaper The Sun, centred around Gretzky, the daughter of NHL legend Wayne Gretzky who has been engaged to Johnson for five years and with whom she has two children.
The 29-year-old model had prompted rumours of a rift in their relationship by deleting every picture of the world No 1 from her Instagram account.
The incident on the flight reportedly created a “poisonous” atmosphere in the US locker room, and scuppered US captain Jim Furyk’s plans to pair Johnson and Koepka for all of the foursomes and fourballs.
With the US trailing 8-4 on Saturday afternoon, Furyk asked the duo to put aside their differences for the sake of the team, according to L’Equipe, and sent them out to face Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, but they lost 2&1.
In a statement to Golf Digest, Koepka’s agent denied any bust-up had occurred between Koepka and Johnson.
“From what I gather, I believe someone made this story up,” Blake Smith said. “Nothing to report on our end.”
The reports of bad blood between the big-hitting “Bash Brothers” came after Patrick Reed’s explosive comments to The New York Times, with the US team once again being torn apart by infighting in the aftermath of a Ryder Cup hammering.
Reed claimed Jordan Spieth did not want to play with him in Friday’s fourballs, despite their successful partnership at previous Ryder Cups.
The Masters champion, who was the top scorer for the US at the last two tournaments, also hit out at Furyk for sitting him during Saturday’s foursomes.
Reed’s account was seemingly disputed by another member of the US team, who told The New York Post that “he is so full of s*** … he begged to play with Tiger [Woods]”.
