With just one participant, LIV golf remains a hot topic at the Ryder Cup

Brooks Koepka is the only LIV player who will play in Rome

Brooks Koepka is the only LIV golfer at the 2023 Ryder Cup.

Locked in a three-way battle with Cameron Smith and Talor Gooch to become the 2023 LIV golf individual champion, Bryson DeChambeau will have his taken from the title during the penultimate event of the circuit which reached this year in Jeddah at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club from October 13 to 15.

DeChambeau, who picked up his second win of the season Sunday at LIV Golf Chicago and now has 146 points but is still behind Smith (170 points) and Gooch (162 points), won’t get the chance to help the American team at the Ryder. Cut this weekend in Rome as he was left out of the squad by captain Zach Johnson. Brooks Koepka, who won the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, got the nod ahead of DeChambeau and was one of Johnson’s captain’s picks. Speaking after his victory in Chicago, DeChambeau admitted he wasn’t very satisfied.

“If you look at it, it would have been nice to at least have just one call,” DeChambeau said on the selection process. “I think there are a lot of people that (Johnson) should have called here, and (we LIV golfers) didn’t understand. I understand. I understand, but we are no different. We are always in competition. We always work very hard to be the best we can be. Brooks is obviously going to kill it for Team USA next week, and I’m excited about the team, but yeah, it definitely stings a little bit. But say what you want, we’re still golfers, and I think given the way I played this week, I could have put up a few points for Team USA.

Although he didn’t mention DeChambeau, who made appearances for Team USA in 2018 and 2021, Koepka appeared to take a small chance at his former rival and current LIV colleague during a press conference in Rome before the Ryder Cup kicks off on Friday. When asked if he thought Johnson’s selection process for the team was fair, Koepka had a pretty simple message.

“I don’t make the decisions” he said. “Everyone had the opportunity to get there. I mean, I had the same opportunity as every other LIV player and here I am. Play better. That’s always the answer.

Another of the 24 American and European players who will compete later this week at Marco Simone Country Club, Rory McIlroy, didn’t attack DeChambeau but left little doubt about how he feels about golfers LIV who were excluded from the Euro. The Ryder Cup team as it is a member of the Saudi Arabia-backed tour.

“This week of all weeks, they’re going to realize that they’re not here and I think they’re going to miss them being here more than we miss them.” McIlroy said. “I think this week is a realization that the decision they made led them to not participate in this week and that’s difficult.”

It’s a shame for European LIVers like Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson not to play in the Ryder Cup, but they have very large sums of Saudi money to help dry their tears.