Brooks Koepka says he has 'basically given up' on Matthew Wolff

With so much drama in the L-I-V, it’s kinda hard to trust Smash GC. It sounds like captain Brooks Koepka is already fed up with one of the players on his squad, Matthew Wolff.

Ahead of this weekend’s LIV Golf event in London, Koepka spoke with Sports Illustrated and was asked about the play (and attitude) of Wolff, a 24-year-old former winner on the PGA Tour. The review from Koepka? Anything but dazzling.

Wolff has struggled on the course, finishing outside the top-30 multiple times. He also withdrew from a league event in Washington, D.C. in May, a decision Koepka didn’t like.

“I mean, when you quit on your round, you give up and stuff like that, that’s not competing,” said Koepka. “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.”

Wolff was briefly removed from the Smash GC social media pages following the event in D.C. Now, he’s in London with the team and says he wants to help out the best he can.

“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.”

Sports Illustrated also said that Wolff was asked if he wants to be a member of a different team in the future. He did not answer the question and walked away.

Wolff won one event on the PGA Tour, claiming top prize in the 3M Open in 2019. He also found himself in a playoff in the 2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, but fell to Martin Laird.

There remain mixed feelings about LIV Golf, but the team element has created something in golf we haven’t seen before. Players are now having to deal with teammates, just like in other sports.

For Smash GC, it’s created an interesting dynamic. Or a frustrating one, according to Koepka.