Brooks Koepka’s Coach UNLEASHES on Top Golf Analyst Brandel Chamblee: ‘A Paid Actor By NBC and The Golf Channel’

Rich Graessle/AP

Claude Harmon III, swing instructor for 2023 PGA Champion Brooks Koepka, is tired of the media’s portrayal of the Saudi Arabian-financed LIV Golf tour.

Speaking with Golfweek after Koepka’s win in the PGA Championship, Harmon called out a number of individuals for their criticism of rival company. That included The Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee — who opposed the idea of Koepka competing in the Ryder Cup — and Golfweek writer Eamon Lynch.

“Brandel is a paid actor by NBC and Golf Channel,” Harmon said. “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.

“And I mean, I love him, I think Eamon is a fantastic writer, but 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?”

Koepka is one of the more prominent names to jump ship to LIV Golf from the PGA. While discussing the possibility of Koepka competing in the Ryder Cup, Chamblee expressed concern that it might “elevate” or “legitimize” the rival company.

Harmon feels it’s hypocritical for critics to claim LIV golfers only care about money considering Tiger Woods was “the ultimate guy who got all the money up front.”

“He flew to his first professional golf tournament on Nike’s private jet, and he wasn’t paying for it,” Harman continued. “So you guys pushed this narrative and pretended like LIV was an exhibition, nobody watched it, you guys didn’t report on it, none of you guys came to the tournaments. I mean the golf that I saw Cam (Smith) play last year, the golf that I saw (Dustin Johnson) play last year, the golf that I saw Brooks play at the end of the year is the same golf that is being played on the PGA Tour. You guys just tried to pretend that it wasn’t.”