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.
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 $100 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.
“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?”
Harmon defended Koepka’s decision to play in LIV, and wondered 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.’ Listen, 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.
“He’s one of those athletes that everybody in sports is saying get him on my team I don’t care how much I have to pay to get him. That’s the type of athlete he is … ”
Harmon also pointed out that Koepka’s five majors are more than what Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth has won, despite the coach’s belief those two receive more “fanfare,” and made some wild claims about an interaction between Koepka and eight-time major winner Tom Watson.
“If someone told you in 2023 after Valhalla that Koepka would have more major wins than Rory McIlroy you wouldn’t believe it because that’s how unbelievable a golfer Rory McIlroy is,” Harmon said.
“Ten years ago, we’re standing on the first tee with Jonas Blixt. Tom Watson walks up and he says, ‘Hey, I’m looking for Harris English.’ We’re like, ‘OK, none of us is Harris English.’ He said, ‘Do you mind if I play a few holes with you guys and try to find Harris?’ We’re walking down the fairway and Watson goes [to Brooks], ‘So which club do you play out of?’ He thought he was a club pro.
“That’s 2014 after finishing fourth in the U.S. Open and he was the Ryder Cup captain and thought he was a club pro. Again, the year that Rory McIlroy won his fourth major is the same year that Tom Watson thought he was a club pro. In 2023, Brooks has got five.
“He’s not afraid. How he’s come back says a lot. He’s always felt his career is defined by majors. He’s got more than Rory, he’s got more than Jordan, he’s got more than a lot of people that get a lot more fanfare than he gets. We’re in different territory now.”