LIV rebel Brooks Koepka arrives in Rome separately to rest of US team

Zach Johnson insists Koepka’s sole trip was purely logisticalEurope captain Luke Donald defends Sergio García’s absence

Everyone can afford to be courteous on the Monday of Ryder Cup week. The two team captains, Luke Donald and Zach Johnson, were all charm and laughter at their opening press conference, but part of the fun of it is knowing that only one will be Sunday evening. You could pick up hints of the storylines that will shape the week of whichever of them loses in the questions about the captain’s picks, the pairings, the order of play, and, in particular, all the talk about players from the LIV tour who aren’t here this year.

Brooks Koepka is the only one who made it on either side, and it turns out he flew to Rome alone, while the rest of the US team travelled together. “Given time constraints and, I don’t know, the slots for taking off and landing, time-wise, it seemed it was best that Brooks meet us here,” Zach Johnson said. “But for him to fly from Chicago to Atlanta and for us to wait for him and go, we would have got in a lot later. I don’t think it was even feasible. So he met us here.” Odd thing was, Koepka got here before the rest of them.