Brooks Koepka ‘has buyer’s remorse’ over LIV Golf move, ‘feels like he’s on the outside looking in’

LIV Golf rebel Brooks Koepka has ‘buyer’s remorse’ for jumping ship to the Saudi-funded series following the PGA Tour’s mega-money prize purses increases, according to a report. 

The four-time major winner, 32, bolted from the PGA Tour for the the upstart last year following the US Open. 

Since departing for the circuit funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Koepka’s record has been a mixed bag and he is said to now feel like ‘he’s on the outside looking in’ when it comes to the PGA Tour. 

Koepka, along with the rest of LIV’s defectors, was suspended from the PGA Tour last summer and he is said to now regret his decision to join the breakaway. 

‘I’m hearing a lot of rumblings that Brooks Koepka has buyer’s remorse,’ golf writer Alan Shipnuck wrote in a Q&A mailbag for the Fire Pit Collective. 

‘The guy has one of the biggest egos in golf, and as the PGA Tour creates ever-increasing buzz with its elevated events and even the state-sanctioned TGL, Koepka has to feel like he’s on the outside looking in.’

Koepka ditched the Tour for LIV, after claiming he ‘was tired of the conversation’ at the 2022 US Open, for what was reported to be roughly $100 million guaranteed.

In response to the threat of the arrival of the rebel series and it’s lucrative deals, the PGA tour announced a number of changes in August, including its elevated events and increased prize money. 

The Phoenix Open last weekend was one of Jay Monahan’s new elevated events with a $20 million purse that included $3.6 million to the winner this year, Scottie Scheffler.

In Netflix’s new docuseries on the PGA Tour, Koepka said the Phoenix Open was one of his favorites events and it had to have stung watching the tournament and the rowdy crowd on 16 from home this year.

LIV CEO and commissioner Greg Norman’s son shut down the rumors, tweeting: ‘No. Bs.’

Whether there’s a route back for Koepka could hinge on the ongoing DP World Tour lawsuit, according to Shipnuck.

‘If the players prevail, that opens the door for the LIV guys to have unfettered access to the Euro Tour, which will be a boon to a struggling circuit,’ said Shipnuck. 

‘It would also position LIVers to play for Europe in the Ryder Cup, all of which would put intense pressure on the PGA Tour to forge a truce with LIV. Secretly, Monahan would love for some big-name LIV guys to come home because it would be a PR bonanza for the PGA Tour.’ 

Koepka triumphed at LIV’s stop in Jeddah but also finished outside the top 10 in four of his other five starts.

More recently, Koepka tied for 46th at the Saudi International and missed the cut by two shots (74-78) at the International Series Oman, an event held on the Asian Tour.

He still has exemptions into the Masters and British Open through 2024, the US Open until 2028 and the PGA Championship for life but he has plummeted to 78th in the world rankings and is ineligible to play in the Ryder Cup this fall outside of Rome because of his suspension from the Tour. 

LIV’s second season gets underway next Friday at Mayakoba, Mexico. Koepka is the captain of Smash GC team, which includes his younger brother Chase, Matthew Wolff and Jason Kokrak.