Going, going, gone
Koepka joins LIV Golf, withdraws from Travelers
CROMWELL — Brooks Koepka became the latest golfer to join the LIV Golf Invitational Series, according to several media outlets.
The Telegraph in London was the first to report the news early Tuesday morning. The next LIV event will be held at Pumpkin Ridge GC in Portland, Ore., June 30-July 2. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan suspended 17 tour players after they all teed off in the first event in London on June 9.
Koepka, 32, who is currently 19th in the world rankings, withdrew from the Travelers Championship this week, the PGA Tour announced via Twitter Tuesday night. The Travelers begins Thursday. Koepka will be replaced by Mark Hubbard.
Last week at the U.S. Open, when asked about the possibility of joining LIV, Koepka told reporters, “There's been no other option to this point, so where else are you going to go?”
When further pressed on the subject, Koepka said “I'm here at the U.S. Open. I'm ready to play the U.S. Open, and I think it kind of sucks, too, you are all throwing this black cloud over the U.S. Open. It's one of my favorite events. I don't know why you guys keep doing that. The more legs you give it, the more you keep talking about it.”
According to published reports, Monahan met with the PGA Tour players here in Connecticut this morning, providing an update, which included a series of events with no cuts and limited fields — limited to the top golfers from the previous FedEx Cup season. Monahan is scheduled to meet the media at 1 p.m. Wednesday at TPC River Highlands, site of the Travelers Championship.
Koepka has won four major championships — two U.S. Open and two PGA Championship titles each. He came into the 2019 Travelers Championship as the No. 1 golfer in the world.
Koepka has played just three times since March — in all three major championships. With his brother Chase already a LIV Golf member and the LIV only
requiring a small commitment to tournaments — the series has just eight events this year — Koepka was a logical choice.
Koepka also got married earlier this month. He tied for 55th at the Open last week at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. He is scheduled to tee off at 7:15 a.m. off the first hole Thursday. He is paired with Brandt Snedeker and Cam Davis.
Dustin Johnson, the 2020 Travelers Championship winner, was in the field at Travelers before withdrawing his PGA Tour membership leading into the first LIV event. Bryson DeChambeau committed to the Travelers on June 6, joined LIV later that week and withdrew from the Travelers a week after committing.
Collin Morikawa has been among those rumored to be going to LIV. The world’s fourth-ranked player, Morikawa, 25, took to Twitter Tuesday morning to reiterate he was staying with the PGA Tour.
“To state for the record, once again, you all are absolutely wrong. I’ve said it since February at Riviera that I’m here to stay on the @PGATOUR,” Morikawa said.
Abraham Ancer, the world’s 20th-ranked golfer, also committed to LIV on Tuesday. Ancer withdrew from the Travelers Championship last week and WD’d from the U.S. Open as well.
LIV Series events, backed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, are 48 players competing for just three rounds with no cuts and big money. Charl Schwartzel won $4 million for winning the first tournament and the lastplace finisher earned $120,000.
Will Zalatoris, who tied for second at the U.S. Open, withdrew before the final round on Sunday, according to the PGA Tour, while Russell Henley and Patrick Rodgers withdrew on Monday. None of them have been tied to LIV Golf.