LIV Golf: Brooks Koepka confirmed as latest player to join Saudi-backed tour

The former world No 1 joins the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed in signing up for the rebel series’s second event

Brooks Koepka has become the latest big name to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series.

The four-time major champion will be part of the field when the breakaway series makes its first stop on US soil at the end of this month, with Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Abraham Ancer and Pat Perez already confirmed as the latest players to defect from the PGA Tour.

LIV Golf confirmed Koepka’s place in the second 54-hole LIV event, to be held at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland beginning on 30 June, just as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was holding a news conference at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.

“There’s no understating the impact that Brooks Koepka has had on the game of golf in the last five years. He carries a championship pedigree and record of success as one of the most elite players in the world,” said LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman.

“The addition of Brooks is yet another example of the incredible fields LIV Golf is assembling as we build momentum in our first season and look towards the future.”

Koepka’s brother, Chase, competed in the inaugural LIV event at Centurion Club earlier this month alongside major champions Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Charl Schwartzel, who earned an eye-watering £3.85m for winning in Hemel Hempstead.

Koepka’s decision, first reported in The Telegraph, comes a week after a bristling press conference ahead of the US Open, where he dodged questions around joining LIV and accused the media of attempting to cast a “black cloud” over the major.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “I’m trying to focus on the US Open, man. I legitimately don’t get it. I’m tired of the conversations. I’m tired of all this stuff. Like I said, y’all are throwing a black cloud on the US Open. I think that sucks.”

Pushed further on the subject, Koepka insisted he hadn’t “given it much thought”.

Koepka, who finished 55th in Brookline, won and then successfully defended the US Open in 2017 and 2018. He repeated that feat at the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019 and held the world No 1 ranking for a total of 47 weeks.