Blunt talk means saying LIV Golf is all about money

Brooks Koepka likes to boast about his honesty. He takes as much pride in being bold and blunt as he does in his remarkable record in the major championships.

He does not shy from criticism if he feels it is warranted. Koepka once accused Patrick Reed of cheating by “building sand castles” in a waste area in the Bahamas. He left no doubt about his feelings for Bryson DeChambeau, a long list.

“I’m always going to speak my mind and tell you what I think, and I think everybody in this room knows that,” he said at a PGA Championship preview day in 2020.

And now he has a chance to speak the truth about his decision to go back on his word and join the Saudi-funded rebel league known as LIV Golf. It’s about the money. It’s that simple.

This is not a “force for good,” the message Greg Norman has been trying to preach and too many of his puppets have been repeating. The 22 former or soon-to-be-suspended PGA Tour members in Oregon for the LIV Golf Invitational are not there for the innovative format, or to test themselves against the best, or even to win tournaments.

They are getting paid an obscene amount of money. Of course, money never came up when Koepka spoke Tuesday for the first time since his decision was revealed. He simply spoke his mind, just like always, only he was of a different mind.

“My opinion changed,” he said, a phrase he used no fewer than six times.

Koepka was the latest example that everyone has a price. He actually said that himself four months ago at the Honda Classic.

This was one week after Phil Mickelson went into hiding after his inflammatory remarks about the Saudis and the PGA Tour, after Dustin Johnson and DeChambeau said they were sticking with the PGA Tour, after Rory McIlroy declared the rebel league “dead in the water.”

“I think there will still be talk,” Koepka said in February. “Everyone talks about money. They’ve got enough of it. I don’t see it backing down. They can just double up and they’ll figure it out. They’ll get their guys. Somebody will sell out and go to it.”

And that somebody turned out to be him.

Mickelson showed his hand months ago when he accused the PGA Tour of “obnoxious greed.” Joining LIV Golf was not a surprise.

Johnson was the biggest fish the Shark landed. The temptation had been strong all along, and then he got an offer he couldn’t ignore. The Daily Telegraph reported his signing fee at $150 million. That’s twice as much as his career earnings after 15 years. Everyone has a price. “I was at a function w Players who wouldn’t be recognized in a restaurant are getting more than that for signing up with LIV Golf. It’s up to them to reconcile the source of the money and if they are taking the easy way out, as McIlroy suggested.

Golf is still hard. It’s the money that’s easy. There’s nothing wrong with saying that.