Brooks Koepka’s Return to the PGA Tour Is a Decisive Blow in Golf’s Civil War
The Ringer • • sports
Key Points:
- The LIV Golf league, funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, has disrupted men's professional golf since 2022 by attracting top players from the PGA Tour with massive financial incentives, sparking a contentious rivalry within the sport.
- Despite signing high-profile players like Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Jon Rahm to lucrative contracts, LIV's unconventional tournament formats and spectacle-driven approach failed to gain widespread fan support or media traction.
- The PGA Tour has responded with a mix of intimidation, negotiations, and recently, a "Returning Member Program" allowing defectors like Koepka to rejoin under strict conditions, signaling a potential decline of LIV's influence and a reassertion of PGA Tour
