Brooks Koepka Says LIV Golfers Not on 2023 Ryder Cup Rosters Need to 'Play Better'

Brooks Koepka provided a straightforward response when asked about his LIV Golf peers who failed to earn a place on a Ryder Cup squad.

"Play better. That's always the answer," he told reporters Wednesday ahead of the event.

Koepka is the sole LIV representative between the two Ryder Cup teams.

Bryson DeChambeau was the most notable omission for the United States.

"I am playing better than Winged Foot," he said, referencing his 2020 U.S. Open victory. "If you look at it, it would have been nice to at least just have a call. There's numerous people that I think (U.S. captain) Zach (Johnson) should have called out here, and we didn't get that."

The Europe team is missing some prominent stars as well, including Ryder Cup stalwarts Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood. Rory McIlroy believes this is an example of how the tournament is bigger than any one player.

"It's certainly a little strange not having them around," he told reporters. "But I think this week of all weeks, it's going to hit home with them that they are not here. I think they are going to miss being here more than we're missing them."

Plenty of fans will contend the stars who signed with LIV Golf made their bed and now have to lie in it. Davis Love III, a vice-captain for the United States, basically said as much to Sports Illustrated's Gabrielle Herzig in August.

"We tried to tell these guys before they went to LIV. 'Do you understand what could happen?'" he said.

In the case of the American golfers, the Ryder Cup captain might be less inclined to select LIV-based golfers because they aren't facing the same challenges or quality of competition on the PGA Tour. It's even more cut-and-dried for the Europeans since they withdrew from the DP World Tour when they signed with LIV Golf, thus making them ineligible for the Ryder Cup.

The status quo could change depending on what the merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf looks like in its final form. Until then, a lot of golfers are left with what's a binary choice between LIV and the Ryder Cup.