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If the American Ryder Cup centered on teamwork were to take place today, feuding golfing stars Brooks Koepka and Bryson Deschamps would be on the team.
Jim Furyek, 2018 Ryder Cup captain and Grand Championship winner, said the heated competition between the two likely won’t hurt Mojo in this year’s team. Having said that positive mojo is often a key ingredient to winning Ryder Cups.
“I think they’ll be fine,” Furek told Yahoo Finance. “We have a lot of help. We have a lot of people in the team room.”
The 43rd Ryder Cup will be held September 21-26 in Wisconsin’s Whistling Streets. Dechambeau is currently ranked second in the Ryder Cup rankings, while Koepka is ranked fifth. The top six players in the standings make up the team.
Steve Stryker will lead the US team while Padraig Harrington will lead the global superstars.
ABU DHABI, UAE – JANUARY 14: Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau attend the launch ceremony of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA at Masdar City – the unique city of the future in the United Arab Emirates on January 14, 2020 in Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Andrew Reddington/Getty Images)
Koepka and Dechambeau – longtime rivals – have traded blows on social media in recent weeks. The feud spilled over into the public forum after Koepka rolled his eyes as DeChambeau passed out during an interview last month. Koepka lost his focus when DeChambeau walked in loud metal spikes, then sent him to the hubs.
In a game with such a strict reputation, back-and-forth banter is far from the norm.
The golf boom continued
Even without the attention-grabbing rivalry among the golf elite, the sport continues in the right direction as people seek social outreach during the pandemic.
The number of rounds played in the United States rose 24.3% through March, according to the most recent data available from the National Golf Corporation. March alone saw a 45.3% increase from last year. The number of rounds played increased by 13.9% in 2020.
This momentum has led to Dick’s Sporting Goods, the major golf retailer, stepping up its investment in the field.
Dick’s will spend $20 million to boost its Golf Galaxy stores in an effort to capture market share in the hot golf equipment market. Among the investments, Dick’s is installing Trackman technology (basically large digital screens one can hit balls and receive data feedback about the ball’s flight, etc.).
The story continues
The company started directly with online booking of lessons and club equipment – which has become an industry standard.
“Your investment in sports [golf] The outlook is strong, and the strength cannot simply be attributed to the one-time benefit of COVID,” Randall Konnick, Jefferies analyst, explains in a research note.
Brian Suzy is a traveling editor and broadcaster at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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