Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee Fires Back at Brooks Koepka’s Coach Over ‘Paid Actor’ Claims

Chamblee posted a strongly worded tweet in response to Claude Harmon III’s bold claims about his role on Golf Channel.

Brandel Chamblee, a longtime Golf Channel commentator and former professional golfer, has responded to recent claims made by Brooks Koepka’s swing coach Claude Harmon III that he is a “paid actor by NBC and Golf Channel.” 

Following Koepka’s fifth major victory at the PGA Championship, Harmon shared bold sentiments in an interview with Golfweek about why Chamblee and his colleague, Eamon Lynch, should not be pinning the term “sportswashing” on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league, where Koepka is now a member. 

“For Eamon Lynch and Brandel Chamblee, who worked for NBC Golf Channel to utter the words ‘sportswashing’ 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 said. 

Chamblee’s response, which came in the form of a 538-word tweet, refers to Harmon’s argument as a “whataboutism” and points to the swing coach’s monetary gain from LIV Golf. 

The farrago of whataboutisms that inevitably accompanies any discussion on sportswashing, attempts, in answering a condemnation with an accusation, to impugn the credibility of the accuser and to distract from having to deal with the complexities of the question. Much like…

— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) May 24, 2023

“Especially, as in the case of the person who called me a paid actor, if they can somehow profit from the evil. This is where the debate crashes headfirst into the nexus of politics, sports and narcissistic greed. Where those who want to escape it most often cloy at whataboutisms, to stop the discussion with a pejorative accusation because they don’t want their motives to be discovered,” Chamblee wrote. 

The TV personality then reiterated his issues with LIV Golf as an entity, using Michael Block—the 46-year-old club pro who finished T15 at Oak Hill—as an example of golf’s true integrity. 

“So while Brooks Koepka’s win at the PGA Championship was impressive, it should not distract us from the simple fact that LIV players are being used for the benefit of some very bad people and to the detriment of a great many more good people.

“Dignity that was most profound in watching the play of Michael Block, the club professional who stole the show at the PGA Championship with his gratitude and joy and of course with his incredibly sharp game. He was a stark reminder of what is missing in LIV Golf and even what will be missing in the PGA Tour’s no cut, small field, designated events next year,” Chamblee wrote.

The entirety of the tweet is included above.