07 July 2023 , 11:28
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LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka has not held back in criticising his Smash GC teammate Matthew Wolff ahead of this week's LIV London event at Centurion Club.
Koepka has enjoyed plenty of success on the course in 2023, having won his sixth major title at the PGA Championship. The American has also found his form on the LIV circuit too, as he finds himself second in the seasonal standings behind leader Talor Gooch.
Whilst all is going well individually for Koepka, it appears the same can not be said for his Smash team, after the American took aim at one of his teammates. In May it was reported Wolff was 'no longer a member' of the Smash setup, but has since returned in Andalucia and London.
Whether he stays with the team any longer however looks unlikely, after captain Koepka unloaded on the the 24-year-old following Wolff's recent poor run on the Saudi-backed league.
Despite an impressive start to the season where he secured three top-10 finishes in five starts, he has finished no better than 34th in his last three tournaments which included a withdrawal from the final round in Washington DC. Less than impressed, Koepka told Sports Illustrated: "I mean, when you quit on your round, you give up and stuff like that, that's not competing
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"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.”
Brooks Koepka slammed Matt Wolff (Getty Images)Much has been said about Wolff's fall from grace in recent years. In 2019, the American burst onto the scene as a fresh-faced 20-year-old to win his first PGA Tour title at the 3M Open. His impressive form continued into 2019, where he just missed out a maiden major title after a second place finish at the US Open.
Despite breaking into the world's top-20 players, Wolff has since struggled for form - and fitness - in recent years. In response to his captain's criticism, he responded: "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.
"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.” He was then asked if he would like to join a new LIV Golf team, to which he shook his head before walking away.