Reports: Koepka latest to join Saudi-backed series

CROMWELL — Brooks Koepka, one of the first players to denounce a rival league for only 48 players, is the latest PGA Tour player to sign on with the Saudifunded LIV Golf series, The Associated Press has learned.

A person briefed on Koepka’s decision told The AP he still would be able to compete on the PGA Tour until he hits a shot on the LIV Golf circuit. The person spoke on condition of anonymity without authorization to speak on behalf of the tour.

The Daily Telegraph first reported Koepka’s decision.

It was another step — and a big name with his four major championships — that added to the roster of the LIV Golf series and invariably will lead to no space for some of the lesser-known players who competed in the inaugural event outside London two weeks ago.

Koepka remained in the field for the Travelers Championship, though he was not at a player meeting Tuesday morning at the TPC River Highlands. The next LIV Golf event starts June 30 outside Portland, Oregon.

Koepka was the second player, behind Rory Mcilroy, to speak out against a rival league in March 2020 when he told The AP, “I have a hard time believing golf should be about just 48 players.”

“Money isn’t going to change my life,” Koepka said at the time.

The proposed rival league was different from LIV Golf, presented as the “Premier Golf League” though still relying on Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Greg Norman and LIV Golf took the idea of 48-man fields, no cuts with a team component.

LIV Golf has not announced Koepka’s signing amid speculation that a few others were soon to join. One was Abraham Ancer of Mexico, the 20th-ranked player in the world who won a World Golf Championship last year in a playoff, along with the Australian Open in 2018.

Ancer said his decision was not taken lightly and that joining LIV would allow him to give back to the game by helping it grow in Mexico.

“I never could have imagined being in this position today,” he said on Twitter.