PITTSBURGH — The defection of Brooks Koepka to the LIV Golf series — with another prominent name expected to soon follow — is yet another example of the Saudi-backed circuit targeting some of the PGA Tour's most popular players. Or so it would appear.
The addition of Koepka, the only player in history to win two majors in back-to-back years (U.S. Open, PGA), could be considered the biggest addition to the rival tour, certainly in terms of number of major titles. But it's also the most stunning, especially given his change of heart from disparaging comments he has made all along about the LIV series.
Money, of course, will do that to a person, especially lots of it.
Koepka, who is ranked 19th in the world, was joined on the defection train by Abraham Ancer, who doesn't carry the cachet like some of the other PGA Tour abdicators but is nonetheless ranked 20th in the world. That gives the LIV tour eight of the top 50 players in the world ranking, headed by No. 16 Dustin Johnson.
Expected to follow them is Rickie Fowler, whose game has been lost somewhere amid his countless endorsement deals, but he remains one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour. It is not difficult to figure out Fowler will be given a financial deal that will more than make up what he will lose from the sponsors who will abandon him.
Through it all, it is also not difficult to figure out what the LIV tour is trying to do: build its own reputation by recruiting big-name players and, in the process, hurting the PGA Tour by eliminating some of its star power. For example, Phil Mickelson, the man at the center of all this, is ranked 83rd in the world. But, if he's playing on the PGA Tour, the only time he won't have the biggest gallery in the field is if Tiger Woods is also playing.
The same is true for other PGA Tour defectors who are big names on the European stage — Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter. None of them is ranked in the top 50 in the world — Garcia, at 59, is the highest — but they are infinitely more appealing to a tournament and its galleries than other international players who are ranked among the top 50, such as Thomas Pieters (35), Seamus Power (36), Mito Pereira (46) and Lucas Herbert (48).
But is the LIV series really collecting some of golf's biggest names to gain attention for its 54-hole team tournaments with massive cash payouts? Or is the upstart tour merely attracting a bunch of damaged goods, players who have come to the realization how difficult it is for them to win again on the PGA Tour or those with injuries that could threaten their ability to win?
If there is a semblance of a common thread among the defectors — beyond the desire for money, that is — it just might be their ability to compete against the best young players in the world has come into question. That would certainly apply to Mickelson, Westwood and Poulter, not to mention former major champions Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen. Toss Fowler into that group, if and when he jumps.
Koepka's inability to flash the game that won him four majors in three years has been severely jeopardized by a knee injury that threatens his longevity. Same with Bryson DeChambeau, who is only 28 but has been bothered by a wrist injury that recently needed surgery. It is difficult to place Johnson, a two-time major champion, in either category. But his seeming indifference to the game, rightfully or wrongly, makes him a player not overly worried about his legacy, especially when the Saudis made him an offer ($150 million) he couldn't refuse.
Where is all this headed?
Well, eventually to the courtroom, when the PGA Tour tries to lock out players who are 1099 sub-contractors and deny their ability to make a living, though a handsome one at that. That litigation will not go over well with players who remain with the PGA Tour, especially after Commissioner Jay Monahan informed them last week they would have to pay the legal fees if the suspended Saudi-linked players decided to head to the courts, according to a story in Golfweek.
Meanwhile, the PGA Tour has tried to assuage its members by introducing some changes to its scheduling format, which includes doing away with the wrap-around season (thank goodness) and introducing a series of no-cut tournaments with big payouts and team formats (sound familiar?). Optically speaking, this is a direct response to the LIV Golf threat.
The wrap-around season — for example, when the 2022 season begins in October 2021 — is flawed in many respects, not the least of which is staging watered-down tournaments during football season when nobody is paying attention. On top of that, the players don't like them because it means virtually no offseason.
But here is the bigger issue: While many of the top players were trying to enjoy some time off after the playoffs (or even a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup), other lesser-known players were stockpiling the all-important FedEx Cup points in those fall tournaments. By the time the top players came out of hibernation in January, they were so far down the FedEx Cup points list you needed GPS to find them.
It is difficult to determine which side is responsible for where professional golf now exists — the LIV Golf series for handing out guaranteed gobs of Saudi-backed money as though it's the NBA, or the PGA Tour for letting it get to the morass it is.
Just two days after Matt Fitzpatrick hit one of the all-time bunker shots to win the U.S. Open, all anybody was talking about was Koepka, a player who appeared to loath playing meaningless tournaments, defecting to the dark side. Money, of course, will do that to a person.
By the way, did you know the Open championship is at St. Andrews in a couple weeks?
