Brooks Koepka Has 'Basically Given Up' On 'Wasted' Talent Matthew Wolff
Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka made his feelings clear on teammate Matthew Wolff ahead of this week's LIV Golf London event
Brooks Koepka said he has "basically given up" on Matthew Wolff and called the young American's talent "wasted".
Koepka is captain of the LIV Golf team 'Smash GC', with Wolff joining the side ahead of the second season of the 54-hole series. Wolff recently withdrew after the opening round of the Washington DC tournament before his name was removed from Smash GC's social media bios, amid reports that he had left the quartet.
Wolff remained on Smash GC but it seems that his captain, five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka, isn't his biggest fan.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated's Alex Micelli, Koepka didn't hold back his feelings on Wolff and in particular his attitude and work ethic.
“I mean, when you quit on your round, you give up and stuff like that, that's not competing,” Koepka told Sports Illustrated at this week's LIV Golf London event.
“I'm not a big fan of that. You don't work hard. It's very tough. It's very tough to have even like a team dynamic when you've got one guy that won't work, one guy is not going to give any effort, he’s going to quit on the course, break clubs, gets down, bad body language, it's very tough.
"I've basically given up on him. A lot of talent, but I mean the talent's wasted.”
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Wolff graduated from Oklahoma State University alongside Viktor Hovland after winning the NCAA Division I individual championship. He turned pro at a similar time to the Norwegian and Collin Morikawa, with all three lauded as future stars.
Wolff won on the PGA Tour in just his third professional start at the 2019 3M Open, where he eagled the final hole to beat Bryson DeChambeau and Morikawa. He would then go on to hold the 54-hole lead at the 2020 US Open, which DeChambeau won, before taking two months away from golf in 2021 to deal with his mental health.
He has since joined LIV Golf but he has yet to show his full potential. He sits 25th in the standings this year, with his best finish of 5th coming at the Orlando event in April.
“I'm here, you know, trying to do what I can to play the best round of golf and that's going to help the team,” Wolff told Sports Illustrated.
“I'm just here to focus on myself and try to play some good golf and that's what everyone's really trying to do, because golf is trying to put the best score up and then if that helps your team it's great.”
Wolff went on to describe Koepka's comments as "heartbreaking."
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Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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