The golfers who made the jump from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf talked about the many reasons why they did it, with some saying it was about having flexibility while others admitted it was for a humungous payday despite the reputation of the organization’s financial backers.
However, that doesn’t mean everyone got to LIV Golf and was 100% happy with the deal, especially as they struggle for acceptance and long-term viability.
According to golf writer Alan Shipnuck, he’s hearing that Brooks Koepka might be regretting his decision.
“I’m hearing a lot of rumblings that Brooks Koepka has buyer’s remorse,” said Shipnuck in a recent mailbag. “He took the money when his brittle body was still being put back together, and in private he has confided to folks he wasn’t sure if he would ever get fully healthy again. But now Koepka is feeling frisky and supposedly rethinking his career choice. The guy has one of the biggest egos in golf, and as the PGA Tour creates ever-increasing buzz with its elevated events and even the state-sanctioned TGL, Koepka has to feel like he’s on the outside looking in.
As for the mechanics of returning to his old place of business, a lot hinges on the European Tour lawsuit that is being reviewed by arbitrators in the UK. If the players prevail, that opens the door for the LIV guys to have unfettered access to the Euro Tour, which will be a boon to a struggling circuit. It would also position LIVers to play for Europe in the Ryder Cup, all of which would put intense pressure on the PGA Tour to forge a truce with LIV. Secretly, Monahan would love for some big-name LIV guys to come home because it would be a p.r. bonanza for the PGA Tour.”
Indeed, the first golfer to decide to leave LIV Golf and return to the PGA Tour (if they allow it) is going to make major headlines, most of them not very good for the startup league. In the meantime, a few new golfers have joined LIV, but no one who moves the meter, so to speak.
