Brooks Koepka not shedding a tear for LIV golfers that failed to make Ryder Cup cut

The five-time major winner was the only member of the Saudi breakaway venture to make Zach Johnson's team despite the United States captain admitting he paid little attention to what was happening on that circuit.

But he could not ignore Koepka after he finished second at the Masters and then won the US PGA in May.

Bryson DeChambeau, who won his second LIV event in successive months on Sunday, complained it "would have been nice to have a call" from Johnson but he finished 54th on the qualifying list due to poor performances in majors and an ineligibility to play PGA Tour events.

But Koepka, who has had his issues with DeChambeau in the past, had no sympathy.

"I don't make the decisions. Everybody had an opportunity to get there. I mean, I had the same opportunity as every other LIV player, and I'm here," he said.

"Play better. That's always the answer."

The 33-year-old was asked whether the Ryder Cup had come into his thinking when he made the decision to defect to LIV in the summer of 2022.

"I had a lot of other things going on in my mind. I don't think Ryder Cup was one of them at that particular moment but I think the closer this got, the more it was definitely in the front of my mind," he added.

"I mean, I knew it would be tougher, but I think after Augusta I kind of had my eyes on it.

"I went to maybe 20th, somewhere around there on the points list, and then from there it was just motivation to get on the team."

Despite being the only LIV golfer at Marco Simone in Rome, Koepka insists he is not flying the flag for them.

"I feel like I'm representing the USA. That's what I've got on the front of my hat this week," he said.

"It's not a group of individuals in that locker room. We're just all one team, and that's the way we think.

"That's what I believe, and I'm pretty sure everybody else there thinks that."

Belief is something in which Koepka is not lacking.

Players have been asked this week whether they would fancy the opportunity to be the one to win the Ryder Cup coming down the stretch in Sunday's singles.

Predictably every one has said yes but Koepka is not convinced by most of them.

"Very few. (It is) false confidence, I think," he added.

"Other than the Ryder Cup I think the most pressure you can feel is in a major.

"Guys should believe in themselves but everybody else has got to be thinking that they don't. That's why I think that way.

"You've got to think you're the best player on the golf course, best player on the team, best player in that current time, and if you don't, then there's something wrong with you.

"You've always got to have that drive and that's what's going to put you over the edge.

"I think a lot of guys have it but I don't know how many guys would want an eight-footer with this (Ryder Cup) on the line.

"I'd love to play Jon (Rahm), Rory (McIlroy), Vik (Hovland). I'll play anybody."

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