Brooks Koepka is the next famous golfer to move up to the LIV Golf Invitational Series. The new and controversial Saudi tour announced the arrival of the four-time major winner on Wednesday, overshadowing the major changes the US PGA Tour announced at the same time.
The global golf world has been on fire for weeks as the wealthy LIV Golf and the PGA Tour have hosted the most important and lucrative series of tournaments in the sport over the decades.
The 32-year-old American Koepka joined on Wednesday in a row with, among others, his compatriots Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson; big names who have previously opted for LIV Golf and its large Saudi-funded treasury.
“Brooks Koepka has had a tremendous impact on the golf world over the past five years,” LIV Golf boss Greg Norman said in a statement. “Attracting Brooks once again shows that we are putting together an incredibly strong field of participants.”
As LIV Golf’s statement was released, PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan gave a press conference in the US state of Connecticut, where the Travelers Championship kicks off Thursday. Koepka has withdrawn from that tournament. He will participate in the second tournament of LIV Golf next week in Oregon.
Monahan spoke in Connecticut about the ambitious plan to revolutionize the PGA Tour. For example, from next year there will be much more prize money to be earned in eight tournaments. In total, it concerns about 54 million dollars (51 million euros).
PGA Tour: ‘Can’t win arms race with money’
The PGA Tour also announced that the regular season will run from January through August from 2024. Now it is from September to August. In addition, there will be three new tournaments in the fall – in Europe and Asia – where the prize money per tournament will be around 25 million dollars (23.7 million euros).
The plans for the PGA Tour cannot be separated from the battle with LIV Golf. The Saudi tour has a billion-dollar budget and will organize eight tournaments this year with a total prize money of 255 million dollars (238 million euros).
Two weeks ago, at the first tournament in London, $25 million was available to participants. That was the largest prize pool in professional golf history. Winner Charl Schwartzel received 3.7 million euros.
“Let me be clear: I am not naive. If this is an arms race and money is the only weapon, then we as the PGA Tour cannot compete against LIV Golf,” Monahan said on Wednesday. “As an American organization, we cannot compete with a foreign monarchy that spends billions of dollars buying golf.”
“We are open to good and healthy competition, but LIV Golf is not. It is an irrational threat, an organization that does not have to worry about recovering their investments or the growth of the sport. We have to take care of it.” that we remain the platform for the best golfers in the world.”
PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan during his press conference.
PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan during his press conference. Photo: AFP