LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka has admitted he still speaks with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and would be ‘open’ to participating in select PGA events if allowed.
Koepka, who joined the Saudi-backed league in 2022, has been banned (like other LIV players) from competing in non-Majors.
But in an interview with The Times, he earmarked a few PGA tournaments he’d like to return to in the future.
‘I still have a good relationship with everybody there,’ he said. There’s a lot of ‘what-ifs’, but I’d be open to playing certain [PGA Tour] events.
‘Like I love Phoenix [Open, in Arizona]. The Cognizant Classic, because it’s my hometown. I’d love to play Dunhill [on the DP World Tour], but if we can’t that’s OK. I’ve made my decision.’
Koepka said ‘each year at LIV has got better,’ but his remarks came after he struck a much different tone earlier in the week.
Brooks Koepka said he would be ‘open’ to playing in certain PGA Tour events in the future
He added that he still speaks with PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan
Koepka (right) and Bryson DeChambeau are among the stars who have left PGA for LIV
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, ahead of LIV’s latest tournament in Doral, Florida, the five-time Major winner expressed frustration at the current state of the league.
‘I think we all hoped it would have been a little bit further along, and that’s no secret,’ Koepka told reporters. ‘No matter where you’re at, you always hope everything is further along. But they’re making progress and it seems to be going in the right direction.’
Since being founded in 2021 – and poaching some of the biggest names in golf – LIV has struggled badly for viewership in the United States.
The league recently signed a broadcast deal with Fox Sports, and averaged just 40,200 viewers across FS1 and FS2 for the final round in Riyadh, according to Nielsen ratings reported widely.
Meanwhile, events in Hong Kong and Singapore this year drew 29,000 and 34,000 viewers respectively, with Adelaide drawing an improved 249,000, as reported by Golf Digest.
Newly-installed CEO Scott O’Neil told reporters this week that 2.5million people worldwide watched the Riyadh event, and called LIV ‘the F1 of golf.’
Nonetheless, LIV and the PGA agreed in June 2023 to a ‘framework agreement’ to merge – though nearly two years later, a deal has not been finalized.
In February, Monahan and PGA Tour player directors Tiger Woods and Adam Scott met with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan (who funds LIV) and President Donald Trump in DC.
However, no deal has been struck, and Rory McIlroy told reporters this week that a formal agreement ‘doesn’t feel like it’s any closer.’
