Brooks Koepka reacts to his putt on the fourth green during the final round of the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black. (Stuart Franklin)

By Joel Beall
Following Patrick Reed’s rules infraction at the Hero World Challenge in December, Reed’s American teammates at the Presidents Cup stood behind the 2018 Masters champion, some even making light of the situation. One U.S. star who wasn’t in Royal Melbourne was Brooks Koepka, missing the biennial event due to a knee surgery.

And Koepka, never one for falling in line, is taking a harder stance on Reed than his fellow Yankees.

Speaking on SiriusXM during a PGA Championship media tour on Monday, Koepka was asked his thoughts on Reed’s actions. The four-time major winner was blunt in his assessment.

Q: “Was [Reed] cheating?”

Koepka: “Uh, yeah. I think, yeah, yeah. I mean, I don’t know what he was doing, building sandcastles in the sand but, you know, you know where your club is. I mean, I took three months off and I can promise you I know if I touched sand.

“It’s one of those things where you know, if you look at the video obviously he grazes the sand twice and then he still chops down on it.”

Reed, as part of his defence, had previously stated he couldn’t feel his club brushing the sand, only acknowledging it looked bad from a camera angle.

Koepka continued, comparing Reed’s situation to the current plight of the Houston Astros, who were caught stealing signs during their 2017 World Series campaign.

“I guess the Astros are going through that right now. [Houston owner] Jim Crane said it, when he got asked, ‘Is it cheating?’ And he said, ‘No, we just broke the rules.’ … If you play the game you understand the rules. You understand the integrity that goes on,” Koepka said. “I mean, there’s no room for it.”

Later in the interview, Koepka insinuated cheating goes on “more than people think” on Tour.

Aside from a two-stroke penalty at the Hero, Reed has faced no further punishment. Reed is playing in this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship, while Koepka is taking the week off. Watch the entire Koepka interview below: