The LIV Golf organization has attracted a host of big names from the PGA Tour, but not all players are initially agree with Breakaway Tournament Idea
LIV Golf’s second campaign will conclude this week when 48 of its players compete on 12 teams in the season-ending team championship in Miami.
It’s been another year of improvement for the LIV system, expanding their season to 14 events in 2023, almost double the number of tournaments they hosted in 2022. During this period, the tournament series backed by Saudi Arabia has attracted some golfers. the biggest names thanks to the big prizes
The final week in Miami is bigger than any other week on the LIV calendar, with a whopping £41 million ($50 million) up for grabs for those competing in three day.
All of LIV’s biggest stars will be at Trump Doral hoping to win their prizes, including Dustin Johnson, whose 4Aces are heading to the season finale as home title champion and 2023 leader. Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka hopes he can also boost his LIV earnings when he arrives in Miami after earning just under £6.5m after insurance defended the LIV Jeddah title last Sunday.
There’s no doubt that Koepka and Johnson comfortably weathered the storm of becoming controversial members of the breakaway league last summer, which will be helped by having their pockets lined comfortably behind their Saudi switch. However, the two men – along with several other actors – have not always been on the side of the LIV brand.
Here are seven LIV Golf stars who initially refused to move to the breakaway league, before signing with Greg Norman and co.
Dustin Johnson
No one benefited more from LIV Golf coaching than Johnson in 2022, as the former Masters champion won the individual and team championships to earn £27.5m in just eight events. to sue.
Just eight months before his impressive double at LIV Golf, Johnson was heard pledging his allegiance to the PGA Tour.
Rumors about the possibility of a Saudi Arabia-sponsored golf tournament began to circulate in 2022, causing some players to resist moving to the startup circuit. One of them is Johnson. “I think now is the time to end this speculation,” he said. “I am fully committed to the PGA Tour.” Just four months later, the American was lured with a £103 million signing fee in what became LIV Golf’s biggest coup.
Brooks Koepka
On Johnson’s back, LIV’s next PGA Tour signing was Koepka, then a four-time major champion. It was initially thought that the Saudi Arabia-backed tournament would be little more than a career-ending stop for some of the Tour’s older players, but as one of the world’s best players Certainly chose to rush in, the PGA Tour knew they were in trouble.
Koepka’s decision will come as even more of a surprise to commissioner Jay Monahan and his team, after he affirmed his loyalty to the Tour just like Johnson. Speaking at the 2022 Waste Management Phoenix Open, he said:
The Smash GC captain was soon left eating his words though after making the Saudi switch, later admitting: “My opinion changed. That was it… Here I am. Like I said, opinions change. And I feel very comfortable with the decision I made. I’m happy, and I did what’s best for me.”
Bryson DeChambeau
One man who had not seen eye-to-eye with Koepka in the past is his old rival Bryson DeChambeau, but one thing the pair do have in common is making a LIV Golf u-turn. Like his former Ryder Cup teammates, DeChambeau too ruled himself out of the running, before confirming his decision to join the breakaway league.
He wrote in February 2022: “While there has been a lot of speculation surrounding my support for another tour, I want to make it very clear that as long as the best players in the world are playing the PGA Tour, so will I.” In the end it seems enough big-name players made the move, as he joined LIV Golf four months later.
Paul Casey
DeChambeau’s Crushers GC teammate Paul Casey found himself in a similar situation too. On the back of his Saudi switch, the Englishman showed there was an element of hypocrisy in his decision, after previously criticising Saudi Arabia’s in golf amid their poor human rights record.
Speaking as a UNICEF ambassador in 2019 Casey vowed never to play or be paid to play golf by the Middle Eastern state. “Signing a deal and being paid to be down there, I would be a hypocrite if I did that. Anyone who says sport isn’t political, that’s rubbish. I’m glad I took a stance, more so if it highlighted the issues within the region.”
Four years later the former European Ryder Cup star has pocketed £7.5 million on the Saudi-backed tour across his 15 months with the LIV Golf setup
Joaquin Niemann
LIV Golf were also seen investing in the future of golf as well as present and past stars, following the acquisition of Joaquin Niemann. The 24-year-old is the breakaway circuit’s youngest captain, but his initial move will have come as a shock to many after initially claiming he was ‘going nowhere’.
Bryson DeChambeau
Another whose loyalties to the PGA Tour eventually caved in was Harold Varner III. Speaking prior to his move, Varner said the inspiration of his sporting icon Michael Jordan meant he would not be leaving the Tour to join the rebel series. “It helps because I’m sure he’s [Jordan] had decisions like this long before I was even born,” he said.
Just weeks before his mega-money move, the Chilean said: “Nothing to tell from me [on LIV Golf]. I want to do my best to beat all these guys. They’re still here and as long as they’re here [PGA Tour], I’m not going anywhere. No chance.”
“I’m obviously not going [to LIV Golf]. I’ve spoken with Jay [Monahan], I’ve spoken with a lot of people I look up to and it just wasn’t worth it to me for what it was worth.” The influence of the basketball great soon wore off though, as he become a LIV player in August 2022.
Thomas Pieters
Thomas Pieters was one of LIV Golf’s later additions, as he opted not to join the Saudi-funded series throughout its maiden season, before becoming one of Norman’s new signings for 2023. The loss of Pieters was a big one to the DP World Tour, with the Belgian one of Europe’s top players, and tipped to make the Ryder Cup in 2023.
DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley was reportedly given reassurance that he was keeping hold of the six-time winner, after The Telegraph claimed he had told the Tour he would not be making the switch in a bid to make Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup’s team in Rome. His priorities quickly changed though, and he is now set to complete his maiden LIV Golf season later this week.
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