Rory McIlroy will team -up with Scottie Scheffler to take on Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in a PGA Tour vs LIV Golf clash in December. And Koepka has spoken out about the “talks” that saw his relationship with the Northern Irishman flourish.
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf have endured a frosty relationship since the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit launched three years ago.
But the competitions are aiming to work closer together after a draft agreement was signed between the two entities in the summer.
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The December match-up, which has been dubbed The Showdown, will take place at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas on Tuesday, December 17, with the players expected to receive appearance fees rather than prize money.
And McIlroy and Koepka will both be vying for dominance in the team event following the conclusion of another demanding season.
After winning four of his five Majors between 2017 and 2019, Koepka said: “I’ve been out here for, what, five years. Rory hasn’t won a Major since I’ve been on the PGA Tour. So I just don’t view it as a rivalry.”
But the American now appears to be closer than ever to four-time Major champion McIlroy. And discussing their relationship on the Warming Up podcast, Koepka explained: “Our friendship has just developed over the years.
“I’ve enjoyed playing with him, playing against him. I’m pretty sure he’s done the same thing. But it’s a lot of fun, man. We practise at the same place. Live in the same area [in Florida]. How could you not?
“Yeah, Rory’s a good dude. “We’ve had some good talks. We get some good laughs out of it because everybody just… All the stuff going on in golf, sometimes you just have to sit there and laugh.
“The funny thing is, we’ll do that when nobody’s around. If I want to talk to somebody there’s a range at Grove and I know there’s nobody else back there, and me and Rory are back there.
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“And [if] I’ve got something I want to say or he’s got something he wants to say to me he’ll pop over and we’ll talk.”
McIlroy and Koepka ignored any tensions between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to play a practice round at last year’s US Masters. And discussing the round, Koepka added: “That just happened, to be funny, and everybody freaked out about it.
“But we’re all pretty good friends, we’re all pretty close. And everybody understands everybody’s position. We’ve got no ill will, man. They’ve gotta do their job and I’ve gotta do mine. As long as you’re honest…I think Rory was honest with me, I was honest with him - it goes a lot better that way.”
