(CBS Sports) Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka is golf’s latest star to spurn the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, according to multiple reports. In doing so, Koepka has joined Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson as the biggest names to join the rival Saudi Arabia-backed tour.
Koepka gives LIV Golf even more momentum as the PGA Tour attempts to rally the troops at the Travelers Championship this week. There is a players-only meeting on Tuesday, and it is believed that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will speak on Wednesday.
According to the Telegraph, Koepka received a similar seven-figure deal as the one received by Mickelson, DeChambeau and Johnson when they jumped over.
Koepka is the second-highest ranked player to have joined the league. Johnson is currently ranked No. 16 in the Official World Golf Rankings, while Koepka is No. 19.
Joining him Tuesday in announcing a move to LIV Golf is Abraham Ancer, a 31-year-old one-time PGA Tour winner at the 2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Koepka’s move could be foreshadowing of more to come. Rumors coursed the veins of the the 2022 U.S. Open at Brookline last week, suggesting Koepka will not be the last name announced ahead of the LIV Golf event set to be hosted in Portland next week. In fact, he’s almost certainly not the last top 20 player in the world to be announced.
Koepka’s brother, Chase, was part of the first event in London at the Centurion Club, and that factors in to all of this.
Last week at the U.S. Open, Koepka was not pleased with the line of questioning he received about LIV, but he was not adamant about his commitment to the PGA Tour, either. In retrospect, it was easy to see this coming (heck, in the moment it was easy to see it coming).
When asked why he's stayed with the PGA Tour, Brooks says because up to this point there's been nowhere else to go. Not really a ringing endorsement! 😂pic.twitter.com/ll5ZNY38Gx
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) June 14, 2022
