• “What I’ve had to go through the last two years on my knees, the pain, the rehab, all this stuff, we realised you need a little bit more time off,” said the 32-year-old.
• After Koepka joined LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy said he was surprised because of his previous comments, adding players who had defected were “pretty duplicitous”.
Image: FILE
Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka says he decided to join the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf series because he needed “a little bit more time off”.
The American has joined compatriots Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau in the new $250m eight-event series.
He said his injury streak in recent years made him want more time at home. Koepka will make his LIV Golf debut at the second event in Portland, Oregon, which starts on Thursday.
“What I’ve had to go through the last two years on my knees, the pain, the rehab, all this stuff, we realised you need a little bit more time off,” said the 32-year-old.
“I’d be the first one to say it’s not been an easy last couple years. I think having a little more break, a little more time at home to make sure I’m 100 per cent before I go play in an event and don’t feel like I’m forced to play right away.”
At the US Open earlier in June, former world number one Koepka complained that questions about the LIV Golf series were throwing a “black cloud” over the major tournament.
He previously said “somebody will sell out” to leave the PGA Tour and join the controversial new series.
After Koepka joined LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy said he was surprised because of his previous comments, adding players who had defected were “pretty duplicitous”.
“My opinion changed. That was it,” said Koepka. “You [press] guys will never believe me, but we didn’t have the conversation until everything was done at the US Open and figured it out. I just said I was going to go one way or another. Here I am.”
Meanwhile, 2020 US Open champion DeChambeau has called on critics of LIV Golf to “move on” from the “bad that has happened before”.
The prize fund for the series comes from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
PIF has Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud as its chairman. A declassified US intelligence report released in February 2021 asserted that he was complicit in the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi — an allegation Bin Salman Al Saud has denied.
The Gulf kingdom is one of the states accused of investing in sport and using high-profile events to ‘sports wash’ its reputation in other parts of the world.
“I understand people’s decisions on their comments and whatnot. But as it relates to me, I have made my own decision,” said DeChambeau, 28.
“Golf is a force for good and I think as time goes on, hopefully people will see the good they are doing and what they are trying to accomplish rather than looking at the bad that has happened before.
“I think moving on from that is important and going and continuing to move forward in a positive light is something that could be a force for good for the future of the game.”