After Brooks Koepka washed Bryson DeChambeau in “The Match,” DeChambeau said, “Hopefully, there will be a rematch sometime soon.”
Soon could be quicker than he may have thought. With both in contention halfway through the Hero World Challenge, the possibility of them being paired for the first time in tournament competition since their feud sparked at the 2019 Northern Trust came down to a single shot. It won’t happen Saturday, but depending on how Round 3 plays out, the opportunity still may come in the final round.
Even if it does, though, Koepka said their dispute has already been settled.
“There should be no Part II,” Koepka said. “I mean, I won the online battle, he can’t trash talk, and I’ve won the golf. So 2-0, it’s tough to come back from.”
Full-field scores from the Hero World Challenge
DeChambeau leads the Hero at 11 under and will be paired with Collin Morikawa, who is 10 under along with Brooks Koepka and Tony Finay, who will be paired.
In their PGA Tour careers, Koepka and DeChambeau have been paired four times, most recently in the first two rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and also at the 2018 Tour Championship (third round) and 2016 Masters (final round). DeChambeau is 2-1-1 against Koepka in those rounds.
After Koepka’s opening 67, which he duplicated on Day 2, the 31-year-old said he’s starting to see the “light at the end of the tunnel” after a career-worst stretch in which he’s failed to register a top-20 finish in his last eight Tour starts. Following an encouraging first two rounds in the Bahamas, Koepka was asked Friday if he can ever play better than he did in 2018 and 2019 when he won three majors and a World Golf Championship while posting runner-up finishes at the Masters and U.S. Open in 2019. Koepka responded just as you’d expect.
"[2018-19] wasn’t peak,” he said. “Just wait.”
DeChambeau may not want a rematch at that point.