At LIV Golf Las Vegas, Brooks Koepka and his revamped Smash GC team emerged victorious, their offseason modifications immediately validated by their early-season performance.
During the LIV Golf offseason, Brooks Koepka made some adjustments to his Smash GC squad, and they are already paying off.
In 2023, Koepka’s team was not doing well, and he got into a public spat with Matthew Wolff for saying he had “given up” on the teammate. In an attempt to get rid of Wolff and strengthen his team, RangeGoats GC made a significant trade wherein Wolff was exchanged for Talor Gooch, the winner of the individual points list.
In addition, he brought in seasoned player Graeme McDowell to take the place of brother Chase Koepka, keeping Jason Kokrak in the lineup. It paid off in the second event of the year, as the revamped squad won LIV Golf Las Vegas handily.
They finished ahead of 4Aces GC by seven shots at -33. Gooch trailed the winner Dustin Johnson by just one shot in the individual standings, while McDowell shot a final-day five to tie for fifth with Paul Casey and teammate Kokrak.
“Yeah, that was the plan, to bring in two guys that have experience, that know how to win, and to be in this situation where I feel like we’re competing every week,” Koepka said when discussing the immediate effects of the changes.
“We just didn’t have a great Sunday last week. Still, that does occur. We were in a position to fight. clearly gained some knowledge, and it was amazing to see G-Mac perform so well today when he returned.
“J (Kokrak) played incredibly well, and Taylor had a chance to win. There was another opportunity for him to win. I adore the way the squad performed. This team is amazing. I have a lot of hope for the future.”
A significant modification to LIV for the upcoming season is that on the last day of the team competition, all four scores will be taken into account. In the past, only the top three scores from each team were included in the final standings during the first two days of the competition.
The decision to make the changes, according to Koepka, was made before the format was adjusted, but he believes it has helped his team because they performed well under trying circumstances.
“Doing the off-season moves before the four scores counted—I thought having three was great, but I think it actually worked out well for us,” he stated.
“Look, this team has a ton of guys that know how to win and play golf, so we have a lot of firepower. Just take a look at it now. Excellent players perform well under pressure. G-Mac accomplished that today.
“I’m incredibly happy for him and these guys for having a chance to succeed. All you can ask for is that. In general, it’s always a good thing when three guys have a Sunday chance to win.”
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