Koepka puts majors before money
● World No 1 cool on proposal to set up breakaway ‘Premier Golf League’ with £183m prize pot
Brooks Koepka, the world No 1, has said he will always put majors ahead of Olympic medals and also the pile of cash that could be on offer if a new worldwide “Premier Golf League” gets off the ground.
In response to details of the proposed breakaway circuit being revealed by Britishbased World Golf Group at the end of last week, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sent an email to his members, including Koepka, on Monday.
While the exact details of what he said have not yet emerged, it is believed that Monahan effectively issued a warning that PGA Tour players would not be allowed to be part of the plan to create a world tour by another body.
“I saw the email last night before I was going to bed and what do you think their response is going to be?” said Koepka, speaking at a press conference for this week’s second Saudi International on the European Tour, of the proposal that 48 players will compete in 18 tournaments for a total prize pot of $240 million (£183m).
“We’ve heard talk about it (the new league) for a while,” added the four-time major winner. “I was only brought up to date, I think, on 4 January when, instead of hearing about it for a couple years, okay, it was more, ‘I think this might actually happen’.
“I’malwaysgoingtospeakmy mind and tell you what I think, but I just don’t have enough information on it to genuinely have an opinion. When things are more finalised and put in stone and I understand it and I know exactly where things are falling, then I’ll be probably one of the first ones to make a choice or figure out what I’m going to do.”
The majors are, of course, run by four separate organisations – Augusta National (The Masters), PGA of America (US PGA Championship), USGA (US Open) and R&A (The Open) – and there seems little likelihood of any players turning their back on those events if push came to shove.
“In golf, that’s what you’re remembered by, major championships,” said Koepka, a two-time US Open and US PGA Championship winner, in reply to being asked if those established top tournaments in the game would potentially be the deal breaker.
“I know everybody always gives me grief about not winning enough PGA Tour or European Tour events or not winning enough, but I guarantee most of you in here don’t even know how many regular tour events Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson won; you just know how many majors they won. It’s a big part for me.”
Referring to the plan to “revitalise the sport for this and future” generations, he added: “There’s a lot of things that are going to have to play into it. You know, it just depends on how things go.
“So far, I haven’t even thought about it. I mean, the Olympics is still even new (with golf only having been reintroduced to the Games in Rio in 2016 after a gap of 112 years). You know, it is not something I grew up wanting to do. Golf wasn’t in the Olympics. It was never an option. So kind of don’t know how I feel about that.”
Ernie Els, who turned down Greg Norman when he was trying to set up a world golf tour 25 years ago, believes the game’s current superstars will be forced into the same decision over this new proposal.
“I was right in the middle of it,” said Els of that failed attempt by the Australian then world No 1. “I remember looking at my future knowing that if I was going with Greg – which sounded brilliant – if anything happened there was no way back for me on to the regular tours.
“I couldn’t because I would never be able to play again if it went wrong. It was pretty clear then that the Tours weren’t going to be playing ball with the new regime so it wasn’t going to work. It could be the same again.”
“Most of you don’t even know how many regular tour events Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson won; you just know how many majors they won”
BROOKS KOEPKA