Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson. LIV Golf

DJ, Brooks, Bryson. Together for the first time in a LIV Golf tournament. And maybe ever.

Pairings for Friday’s first round of LIV Golf Tucson don’t get any juicier than the threesome starting at the second hole for the shotgun start at The Gallery in Arizona.

Captains Dustin Johnson (4 Aces), Brooks Koepka (Smash) and Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers) — who have combined to win seven of the last 26 majors — make up an all-star all-American group for the first US-based tournament of the 2023 LIV Golf League season.

This will be the third time that Johnson and DeChambeau have been in the same LIV group, and the second time that Johnson and Koepka have shared a group. But in the previous 21 regular-season rounds the trio have played since joining LIV Golf, they never filled out the entire threesome.

It also may be the first time the three big hitters have played as a trio in any professional tournament.

“I played with Bryson at Augusta years ago,” Koepka said. “I’ve played with Dustin quite a bit. As a threesome, probably not. I haven’t played with Bryson in the last seven years.”

“I’ve played a bunch with both of them, so it’s hard to remember if we’ve been in the same group,” Johnson added.

This will also be the first time that DeChambeau and Koepka have been paired since becoming LIV golfers. But before your mind races back to social jabs and eyerolls and alleged beefs, know this: There is no active feud.

“Believe it or not, we squashed it,” Koepka said last month. “We’re good. I actually talk to him quite frequently because of what’s going on here at LIV. Pretty much on an every-other-day basis. So we’ve got a good open line of communication.

“We’ve figured it all out, and we’re good.”

The threesome should have plenty to talk about during their round, especially with this week’s announcement of a proposed rollback of the golf ball to curtail distances by elite competitors. DeChambeau, Johnson and Koepka rank among the biggest hitters in golf, and DeChambeau said on Tuesday that it was a misguided proposal made by the USGA and R&A.

He called it “the most atrocious thing that you could possibly do to the game of golf”. It wouldn’t be surprising if his two playing partners shared similar views.

“It doesn’t matter who I play with,” Koepka said. “I still want to play good golf.”

Johnson and Koepka have been paired once in LIV Golf. DJ and DeChambeau have been paired twice. Here’s how they’ve fared when playing together.
2022 Portland
Johnson 68, DeChambeau 72
2022 Bedminster
Koepka 69, Johnson 69
2022 Bangkok
DeChambeau 69, Johnson 70

FRIDAY’S PAIRINGS
Hole 1 – Charles Howell III (Crushers), Phil Mickelson (HyFlyers), Cameron Smith (Ripper)
Hole 2 – Dustin Johnson (4 Aces), Brooks Koepka (Smash), Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers)
Hole 3 – Bubba Watson (RangeGoats), Abraham Ancer (Fireballs), Louis Oosthuizen (Stinger)
Hole 4 – Branden Grace (Stinger), Carlos Ortiz (Fireballs), Lee Westwood (Majesticks)
Hole 5 – Talor Gooch (RangeGoats), Matthew Wolff (Smash), Marc Leishman (Ripper)
Hole 6 – Ian Poulter (Majesticks), Harold Varner III (RangeGoats), Sebastian Munoz (Torque)
Hole 7 – Anirban Lahiri (Crushers), Kevin Na (Iron Heads), Patrick Reed (4 Aces)
Hole 9 – Cameron Tringale (HyFlyers), Henrik Stenson (Majesticks), Jason Kokrak (Smash)
Hole 10 – Sam Horsfield (Majesticks), Dean Burmester (Stinger), Danny Lee (Iron Heads)
Hole 11 – Scott Vincent (Iron Heads), James Piot (HyFlyers), Bernd Wiesberger (Cleeks)
Hole 12 – Richard Bland (Cleeks), Chase Koepka (Smash), David Puig (Torque)
Hole 13 – Sihwan Kim (Iron Heads), *Laurie Canter (Cleeks), Jediah Morgan (Ripper)
Hole 15 – Eugenio Chacarra (Fireballs), Graeme McDowell (Cleeks), Charl Schwartzel (Stinger)
Hole 16 – Thomas Pieters (RangeGoats), Mito Pereira (Torque), Brendan Steele (HyFlyers)
Hole 17 – Matt Jones (Ripper), Paul Casey (Crushers), Pat Perez (4 Aces)
Hole 18 – Sergio Garcia (Fireballs), Peter Uihlein (4 Aces), Joaquin Niemann (Torque)
* Reserve player for injured Martin Kaymer