Claude Harmon III is known for coaching swings, and he took a few of them himself at members of the media.
Harmon, the son of Tiger Woods’ longtime former coach Butch Harmon, helped guide Brooks Koepka to victory at the PGA Championship this past weekend, the 33-year-old’s fifth major championship and eighth major win.
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In an interview with Golfweek, Harmon called out the hypocrisy of Golf Channel broadcasters Eamon Lynch and Brandel Chamblee, who have accused golfers like Koepka, who reportedly received about AU$150 million to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, of “sports washing” for the Saudi Arabian regime.
“Brandel is a paid actor by NBC and Golf Channel. All he’s trying to do is get his lines and shows for the Golf Channel. He’s just trying to get lines for Brandel,” Harmon said.
“For Eamon Lynch and Brandel Chamblee, who worked for NBC Golf Channel to utter the words ‘sports washing’ when the company they work for televised the last two Winter Olympics in Russia and China with the same leaders that they’ve had. It’s not like they were good leaders back then. It’s not like Putin was a good guy, right?
“You guys all think LIVs, maybe you’ve changed your tune, but initially, it was all just bulls***, a bunch of guys playing who didn’t care, who got the money, who got the bag, and it’s 54 holes and there’s no competition and all that. So it was easy for you guys to just pretend like these guys just weren’t good players anymore. And I think you guys largely did that because you drank the Kool-Aid of everybody else.
“But how you guys all thought that these guys just weren’t going to show up and be great players is beyond me. I think it is an interesting Jedi mind trick that they played on you guys and you guys fell for it.”
Harmon defended Koepka’s decision to play in LIV, questioning why the claims from PGA Tour loyalists that golfers would mail it in after taking big upfront money, when that standard doesn’t apply to players who receive blockbuster contracts in team sports.
“This goes a long way to debunking the LIV myth, which is everybody got paid, you’re not going to care, and if you get paid you’re going to phone it in,” Harmon said.
“Nobody thinks that way with Lamar Jackson, with Dak Prescott, with the NBA. Why is golf different? Why do we want golf to be not like everything else? That’s what I fundamentally don’t get.
“There couldn’t be anyone that got more grief for doing the LIV thing than Brooks. He got a big dose of the anti-LIV hate. And he got a big dose of, ‘He’s a bum, he’s washed up.’
“He’s a generational talent. He’s not like everyone else. Brooks is Aaron Rodgers. He’s a franchise quarterback in the NFL. In other sports terms, he’s a starting pitcher who just threw another no hitter, won another World Series, won another Cy Young. That’s who he is, he’s a player. He’s Kevin Durant.”
Harmon also took a swipe at American star Will Zalatoris, who won the FedEx St Jude Championship in August last year and placed second in three majors.
“You guys all acted like Brooks was a s***ty player and Will Zalatoris was great, but the guy has won one (expletive) golf tournament,” Harmon continued.
“Yeah, he’s finished second in a bunch of tournaments. So have a lot of players, but you guys are ready to crown him as if he’s the second coming of Christ and you guys are acting like Brooks Koepka was a bum. Seriously, pre-Masters, that is what was happening.”
– with the New York Post
‘This is wild’ Koepka lost for words | 01:56