Brooks Koepka quits LIV Golf to focus on family life | Golf News


Koepka, a key signing to the breakaway LIV Golf three years ago, has exited the tour a year before his contract ends.

LIV Golf announced on Tuesday that five-time major ‌champion Brooks Koepka has parted ways with the lucrative worldwide tour prior to the ‍2026 season.

The 35-year-old Koepka, ‍who had one year left on his LIV contract, has yet to declare whether he intends to return to the PGA Tour. He left in June 2022 when LIV signed him to a reported $100m contract to jump-start its bid to compete ⁠with the PGA Tour.

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“We have amicably and mutually agreed that Brooks Koepka will no longer compete ​in the LIV Golf League, following the 2025 season,” LIV Golf CEO ‍Scott O’Neil said in a statement. “Brooks is prioritizing the needs of his family and staying closer to home.”

Koepka’s tenure with LIV was laden with highs and lows. When he won the 2023 PGA Championship after spending most of ‍his days playing ⁠in LIV’s comparatively non-competitive environment that featured 54-hole, no-cut tournaments, it gave LIV a big boost of credibility.

On the flipside, Koepka occasionally expressed his frustration with his situation – sounding like the 2017 and 2018 US Open champion and 2018, 2019, 2023 PGA titlist was marking time.

“I’ve got a contract obligation out here to fulfil, and then we’ll see what happens,” Koepka said at one LIV event.

His official third-person statement did not offer ​any hints as to his future.

“Brooks Koepka will be stepping ‌away from LIV Golf. He is deeply grateful to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Scott O’Neil, and the LIV Golf leadership team, his teammates, and the fans. Family has always guided Brooks’s decisions, and he feels this is the right moment to spend ‌more time at home. Brooks will continue to be a huge supporter of LIV Golf and wishes the league and its players continued ‌success. Brooks remains passionate about the game of golf and will ⁠keep fans updated on what’s ahead.”

While Koepka can tee it up for all four majors next year thanks to his 2023 PGA Championship victory, the PGA Tour requires LIV exiles to sit out one year from their last LIV ‌tournament. His last appearance was on August 24 at the one-day LIV Golf Michigan event.

The PGA Tour could offer an exemption, but it also opted not to offer any hints in its statement.

“Brooks Koepka is ‍a highly accomplished professional, and we wish him and his family continued success. The PGA Tour continues to offer the best professional golfers the most competitive, challenging and lucrative environment in which ‌to pursue greatness.”

LIV Golf is financed by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.

Brooks Koepka reacts.
Koepka cited family as the primary reason for his early departure from LIV Golf (File: Edgar Su/Reuters via USA TODAY Sports)

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