Brooks Koepka’s frustrations boiled over at LIV Golf Dallas, with the five-time major winner smashing up a tee box in anger – before withdrawing through a mystery illness.
Koepka suffered a catastrophic meltdown on Friday, going six-over-par through eight holes before a wayward drive on the ninth tipped him over the edge.
The 35-year-old smashed his driver into the tee box before taking aim at the tee marker, hitting it out of the ground in anger.
It would prove his final hole of the day, with Smash GC announcing that the captain had been replaced by reserve Luis Carrera.
LIV Golf said Koepka has been ‘feeling under the weather all week… (and) was forced to pull out after playing eight holes’.
He began the day with a birdie on the par-five second, only to make triple bogies on holes five and seven. Koepka then dropped another shot after his poor drive on nine.
Brooks Koepka’s frustrations boiled over during the opening round of LIV Golf Dallas on Friday
The five-time major winner damaged a tee box – before withdrawing through a mystery illness
The former world No 1 is eligible to return to the field for rounds two and three but his score would count only towards Smash GC’s team score.
In Koepka’s place on Friday, LIV Golf debutant Carrera eventually carded a nine-over-par 81.
Koepka was among the big-name stars who quit the PGA Tour to join the Saudi-backed breakaway in 2022.
The following year he became the first LIV rebel to win a major, when he triumphed at the 2023 PGA Championship.
But he has yet to win a LIV event in 2025 and on Friday he lost his temper. Koepka’s tantrum came just weeks after Wyndham Clark landed himself in hot water at the US Open.
The former champion missed the cut at Oakmont and then damaged a century-old locker in the clubhouse.
‘I made a mistake that I deeply regret. I’m very sorry for what happened,’ said Clark, who also flung his driver and damaged a sign during the PGA Championship.
