Tag: Patrick Reed

LIV Golf: 2022-23 PGA Wrap-up and Power Rankings

Brooks Koepka: 2023 PGA Champ

After his performance at The Masters, there was no question that Brooks Koepka was back and would be a force at the PGA Championship. At Augusta Brooks dominated early, jumping out to a big lead—but faltered in the final round. The PGA, however, was a different story. Koepka started slowly, gradually building momentum each day before bringing the hammer down on Sunday afternoon.

After posting 2 over in the first round, Brooks lurked in the shadows, 6 shots off the lead held by Bryson DeChambeau at -4. On Friday he glided through the front nine at even par, slowly moving up the leaderboard on the immensely difficult Donald Ross layout at Oak Hill.

And then Brooks kicked it, pouring in 5 birdies on the back nine for 31 and a second round 66, climbing to fifth—3 shots behind the leaders as the championship headed into the weekend.

Oak Hill Country Club: The Ultimate Grind

As if Oak Hill wasn’t tough enough already, Saturday’s weather for the third round featured continuous rain, making the already nasty rough that much more difficult and taking the opportunity to post a low number out of the equation.

It was the perfect storm for Koepka though, who loves nothing more than a hellishly difficult golf course combined with horrendous conditions and maximum pressure. Again, Brooks quietly glided through the front nine with a 1 under 34, and then battered the back with 3 birdies for another 66—going into Sunday with a 1 shot lead over young Victor Hoveland.

Brooks Koepka: 5 Major Championships

Unlike Sunday at The Masters, Koepka put his foot on the gas right out of the box with 3 birdies in the first 4 holes, extending his lead to 3 shots. Hoveland wouldn’t quit though, pulling to within a shot on the sixth hole and staying right there until a double on 16, combined with yet another Koepka birdie, ended his chances.

The win was Koepka’s fifth major championship, one more than Rory McIlroy, and the same number reached by Byron Nelson, Seve Ballesteros and Peter Thomson. It will be hard to bet against Brooks at the Los Angeles Country Club for the U.S. Open Championship in June—although Jon Rahm and Scotty Scheffler won’t just step aside and hand it to him.

On the other hand, Koepka will no doubt relish the competition—and we can look forward to the kind of gunfight not seen at a major championship in a long time.

DJ: Holding onto #1

LIV Power Ranking Update

Players have been rated and ranked on the basis of events played, average finish, wins, runner up, Top-5 and Top-10 finishes–as well as performance at the 2022 and 2023 major championships (LIV Player Rankings).

While seventy-five players have participated in one or more tournaments since the inaugural event in London last year, we’ve included only the top forty-eight. With Brooks Koepka’s win at the PGA and Cam Smith recording a Top 10, a big bite has been taken out of Dustin Johnson’s lead in the Power Rankings—and if either were to win this weekend at Trump National in DC, Johnson may find himself knocked from his perch.

Top 3

No. 1 Dustin Johnson: 95.4 Rating
Dustin is still the only player with a Top 10 average finish (9.6). He has also recorded the most wins (2) and the most top 10’s (7).

Unfortunately, DJ wasn’t sharp at The Masters (T48), and after firing a 67 in the first round of the PGA he followed up with 3 consecutive rounds of 74 to finish far back at T55.

Dustin will have to pick up his game to keep Koepka and Smith at bay—perhaps he’ll put it in gear over the weekend in DC.

Cam Smith: Open Champ plus Two Major Top 10’s

No. 2 Cameron Smith: 89.7 Rating

With a T10 in Singapore, runner-up in Tulsa and final round 65 at the PGA to record a Top 10, Cameron Smith has moved back up into the No. 2 position. If Cam takes home the trophy in Washington and DJ were to finish back in the pack, he can vault past Johnson and grab the top spot.  

No. 3 Brooks Koepka: 87.2 Rating
2023 is shaping up to be a monster year for Brooks Koepka. His second LIV win at Orange County National/Orlando in early April was immediately followed by the fantastic performance at the Masters where he made it clear that the injuries were in the past and his game was back.

Following the runner up at The Masters, Brooks finished 11th at Adelaide, 3rd in Singapore and 5th at Tulsa—and then came his magnificent PGA Championship victory.

It will be fun to see if Brooks keeps the peddle to the metal at Trump National in DC this weekend—and the field better take cover if he does. 

Pat Reed: Masters T4 and PGA Top 20

Notables

Patrick Reed: No. 5—73.5 Rating
While Reed is still looking for his first LIV win, he has recorded 5 Top 5 finishes in 12 starts, including a runner up and 3 third place finishes. Patrick is also second only to DJ in average finish at 12.5.

Reed also followed up his T4 at The Masters with a top 20 finish at the PGA—perhaps this is his week to nail down that first win.

Bryson DeChambeau: Before and After

Bryson DeChambeau: No. 15–52.5 Rating
With only one Top 10 finish in his first 11 LIV events, Bryson was treading water in the middle of the pack—and then he recorded a 5th place finish two weeks ago at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa and followed that up with a T4 at the PGA Championship.  

Bryson decided to shed much of his bulk toward the end of 2022, and it seems he now feels comfortable in the new slimmed down version of himself—look to see him start packing on more LIV Top-10’s and make some noise at the U.S. Open in LA.

Phil: 100 Major Championship Cuts

Phil: No. 31—40.3 Rating 

Phil is an enigma, no doubt about it. In thirteen LIV events he has recorded only one Top-10—but let him step foot on Augusta National and suddenly he fires a 65 in the final round and adds another runner-up to his amazing major championship record.

And making the cut in the PGA at Oak Hill, as an army of pros half his age packed up and headed home, was yet another milestone in Phil’s illustrious career—the 100th time he made the cut in a major championship.

Only Jack (131) and Gary Player (102) are in front of him—so Phil has a chance to tie Player for second before the year is over.

Now if only he’d stop fooling around and put up some numbers in the regular LIV events…

Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester NY

PGA Championship: Summary

Brooks Koepka WIN
Bryson DeChambeauT4
Cameron SmithT9
Patrick ReedT18
Mito PareiraT18
Harold Varner IIIT29
Thomas PietersT40
Dean Burmester54
Dustin JohnsonT55
Phil MickelsonT58
Sihwan KimT62
Pablo LarazabalT65
Joaquin NiemanMC
Taylor GoochMC
Abraham AncerMC
Anirban LahiriMC
Trump National Washington D.C.

2023 Upcoming LIV Schedule

DC Trump National Golf Club, Washington (May 26-28)

Valderrama Real Club, Spain (June 30-July 2)

London Centurion Club, Hertfordshire UK (July 7-9)

Greenbrier Old White/The Greenbrier WV (August 4-6)

Bedminster Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster NJ  (August 11-13)

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LIV Golf: 2022-23 Power Rankings and Masters Look Back

Brooks Koepka: He’s Back

To the surprise of many, twelve of the eighteen LIV players who were invited to Augusta for The Masters made the cut. On top of that, three finished in the Top 5 (Phil and Brooks Koepka tied for runner-up, while Patrick Reed landed a T4). Young Joaquin Niemann also had a solid week, finishing among the Top 20 (T16).

The big story of the 2023 Masters was Koepka, dominating the field through the first three days of rain interrupted play. When the third round was halted through 6 holes on Saturday, Brooks appeared to be unstoppable in pursuit of his 5th major championship, standing at 13 under par with a 4-shot lead over Jon Rahm.

And as play resumed on Sunday, with both Phil and Pat Reed rocketing up the leaderboard, it looked like the PGA Tour’s worst nightmare was about to unfold.

The golf pundits had universally been saying that the LIV players would have a rough time because they were not used to stiff competition, and LIV tournaments were only 3 rounds. Phil (at 52 years old) closed with a fourth round 65 and Reed fired a 68—both finishing in the top 5 and putting a stopper on that theory.

Although Brooks faltered on Sunday and Rahm was able to overtake him, he exhibited a degree of humility and class worthy of a four-time major champion. There is no question that Koepka is back, and you can expect to see him among the leaders at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in May.

Dustin Johnson: Giving some Ground

LIV Power Ranking Update

Players have been rated and ranked on the basis of events played, average finish, wins, runner up, Top-5 and Top-10 finishes–as well as performance at the 2022 and 2023 major championships (LIV Player Rankings).

While seventy-five players have participated in one or more tournaments since the inaugural event in London last year, we’ve included only the top forty-eight. Not surprisingly, Dustin Johnson has dominated pretty much from day one. With his T4 at The Masters, however, Patrick Reed continues to move closer to DJ, and Brooks Koepka is beginning to bull his way toward the top with his second LIV win and runner-up at Augusta National.

Top 3

No. 1 Dustin Johnson: 81.9 Rating
After opening with an 8th place finish at the initial event in London, Dustin recorded a T3 in at Pumkin Ridge Portland, a T2 in Bedminster and then won the fourth event in Boston. In the ten stroke play tournaments held thus far, DJ has recorded a win, a runner-up, three top 5’s and two top 10’s with an average finish of 9.1.

While DJ made the cut at Augusta, his T48 finish was very forgettable—and allowed Reed and Koepka to close the gap quite a bit in the LIV Player Rankings.

Patrick Reed: Masters T5

No. 2 Patrick Reed: 67.6 Rating
Reed recorded a T3 in his first LIV event in Portland, and finished among the top 5 in four of the ten events he’s played (including a T3 at Orange County National in March). Patrick is also among the top echelon for consistency with an average finish of 12.4.

On the heels of his Top 5 finish at the Masters, Reed will look to carry the LIV banner through each of the remaining majors in 2023.

No. 3 Brooks Koepka: 67.0 Rating
After a slow start in 2022, Brooks recorded a T8 at Bangkok and followed that up with a win in his next event (Jeddah). After mediocre finishes in the first two events of 2023, Koepka recorded his second win in Orlando last week—making him the only LIV player with multiple wins thus far.

While his Sunday stumble at Augusta was no doubt a major let down for Brooks, he certainly sent a message that he’s far from done—and Rahm will have his hands full at the PGA this year.

Cameron Smith: Looking to Heat Up at the PGA

Notables

Cameron Smith: No. 7–60.6 Rating
After a fast start, Cameron Smith has tumbled from No. 2 at the conclusion of ‘22 to No. 7 after finishing 24th at The Gallery Golf Club in Tucson, 26th in Orlando, and a disappointing T34 at The Masters.

He will be a force at the PGA, however, should he brandish the wand as he did at The Open Championship last year.

Joaquin Niemann: Young Gun

Joaquin Niemann: No. 9–57.3 Rating
At 24 years old, Joaquin Niemann is one of the brightest young stars in golf. After joining the PGA Tour at 19, Niemann recorded 22 Top-10’s including 2 wins in 5 years–making the cut in just under 80% of the events he entered while reaching the Tour Championship in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Joaquin had an excellent Masters with a T16 finish, but we won’t see him at another major until the U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club in June—where you can expext him to make some noise with his precision ball striking.

Mito Pereira: No. 12—55.3 Rating
Virtually unknown in the U.S. prior to bursting onto the scene with a T3 at the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, Pereira’s outstanding play came as no surprise to golf fans in his native Chile. After winning multiple junior titles, including a victory on the Chilean Professional Tour in 2013 as an Amateur, Mito climbed to number 5 in the official World Amateur Golf Rankings in 2015 at twenty years old.

Mito made the cut and had a solid week at Augusta, and we’ll see him at the PGA Championship in May. Like his fellow Chilean, Joaquin Niemann, look for Mito to have a solid season at the majors in 2023.

Phil: Masters Runner-Up

Phil: No. 37–34.6 Rating 
While Mickelson’s LIV career could only be described as a lead balloon thus far, leave it to Phil to pull a giant rabbit out of his hat when you least expect it. The stunning 65 that he fashioned in the final round at Augusta was a flashback to his incredible PGA win in 2021.

While the Masters runner-up finish propelled Phil from No. 46 to No. 37 in the LIV Player Rankings, it also appears to have ignited a flame as we head toward the PGA (Phil fired a solid 2 under round of 70 in the first round at Adelaide in Australia this week, and followed up with 65 in the second round to move into the Top 10).

Could Phil pull off another bit of magic at Oak Hill? We’ll have to wait and see….

The Masters: 12 of 18 Make the Cut
PGA Tour (https://www.pgatour.com/)

The Masters: Summary

Brooks Koepka           T2

Phil Mickelson            T2

Patrick Reed               T4

Joaquin Nieman          T16

Harold Varner III        T29

Cameron Smith           T34

Talor Gooch                T34

Abraham Ancer          T39

Mito Pareira                T43

Dustin Johnson           T48

Thomas Pieters           T48

Charl Schwartzel        T50

Sergio Garcia              MC

Bryson DeChambeau  MC

Jason Kokrak              MC

Bubba Watson            MC

Louis Oosthuizen        WD

Kevin Na                     WD

The Grange Golf Club: A Greg Norman Design

2023 Upcoming LIV Schedule

Adelaide The Grange Golf Club, Australia (April 21-23)

Singapore Sentosa Golf Club (April 28-30)

Tulsa Cedar Ridge Country Club (May 12-14)

DC Trump National Golf Club, Washington (May 26-28)

Valderrama Real Club, Spain (June 30-July 2)

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LIV Golf: 2022-23 Power Rankings and Masters Preview

Dustin Johnson: Continues to Dominate

With the 2022 LIV season in the rearview, the first three events of 2023 completed, and eighteen players headed to The Masters, let’s take a look at who tops the charts after the first ten events.

Players have been rated and ranked on the basis of events played, average finish, wins, runner up, Top-5 and Top-10 finishes–as well as performance at the 2022 major championships (LIV Player Rankings).

While seventy-five players have participated in one or more tournaments since the inaugural event in London last year, we’ve included only the top forty-eight. Not surprisingly, Dustin Johnson has dominated pretty much from day one. With his T3 at Orlando last week, Patrick Reed moved from No. 5 at the close of 2022 to No. 2 heading into The Masters, and Brooks Koepka has muscled his way from No. 9 to No. 3.

After a fast start, Cameron Smith has tumbled from No. 2 at the conclusion of ‘22 to No. 8 after finishing 24th at The Gallery Golf Club in Tucson and 26th in Orlando last week—perhaps Augusta National will get his juices flowing again.

Top 5

No. 1 Dustin Johnson: 80.9 Rating
After opening with an 8th place finish at the initial event in London, Dustin recorded a T3 in at Pumkin Ridge Portland, a T2 in Bedminster and then won the fourth event in Boston. In the ten stroke play tournaments held thus far, DJ has recorded a win, a runner-up, three top 5’s and two top 10’s with an average finish of 9.1.

Patrick Reed: Moving Closer to DJ

 No. 2 Patrick Reed: 62.6 Rating
Reed recorded a T3 in his first LIV event in Portland, and finished among the top 5 in four of the ten events he’s played (including a T3 at Orange County National last week). Patrick is also among the top echelon for consistency with an average finish of 12.4.

Brooks Koepka: 2 LIV wins

No. 3 Brooks Koepka: 62.0 Rating After a slow start in 2022, Brooks recorded a T8 at Bangkok and followed that up with a win in his next event (Jeddah). After mediocre finishes in the first two events of 2023, Koepka recorded his second win in Orlando last week—making him the only LIV player with multiple wins thus far.

Don’t be surprised if Koepka makes some noise at Augusta this week.

Uihlein and Wolf: Moving up the Board

No. 4 Peter Uihlein: 61.6 Rating
After a 4-0 record as a member of the 2009 Walker Cup team and then winning the U.S. Amateur in 2010, Uihlein struggled to make it on the PGA Tour, flying largely under the radar with stints on the European Tour (where he recorded a win) and the Korn Ferry Tour (recording 2 wins).

Since joining LIV in 2022, however, Peter’s game has fulfilled the promise of his early career. After opening with a T3 in London, Uihlein recorded five additional Top-10’s including runner-up finishes in Chicago, Jeddah and Mayakoba.

No. 5 Matt Wolf: 61.1 Rating  
At 22 years old, Matt Wolf is one of the brightest young stars in golf. After joining the PGA Tour at 19, Wolf recorded a win at the 3M Championship in his rookie year, a runner up at the 2020 U.S. Open and a T4 at the 2020 PGA Championship.

In nine LIV events, Matt has finished among the Top 10 six times, including a runner-up at Trump Bedminster in ’22 and a T5 in Orlando last week. Wolf also has the best average finish behind DJ at 11.9 for players who have participated in at least 5 LIV events.

Carlos Ortiz and Charles Howell III

Notables

Carlos Ortiz: No. 7—60.1 Rating 
Ortiz opened with a runner-up in his first LIV event in Portland last year and has finished among the Top-10 in five of the nine events he’s played. Thus far in 2023, Carlos has recorded a T7 in Mayakoba, a runner-up in Tucson and a T8 last week in Orlando. He is also tied with Matt Wolf with an average finish of 11.9, just behind DJ.

Charles Howell, III: No. 9–57.3 Rating
Charles won his first LIV event at Mayakoba in February with a dominating four stoke margin over Peter Uihlein, and has finished among the Top-10 in four of the eight events he has played.

Only five players were better than Howell’s average finish of 13.7.

Phil: Poised for a run in 2023

Phil (No. 46—29.6 Rating) 
Mickelson’s LIV career has not been memorable to say the least, dropping even further to No. 46 (he finished 2022 at No. 38).

And Phil’s T41 last week in Orlando, his worst showing ever at an LIV event, does not bode well for Augusta this week—but you never know, perhaps the familiar surroundings and past success will boost him into the weekend.

Augusta National
PGA Tour (https://www.pgatour.com/)

Playing The Masters

Dustin Johnson No. 1 (80.9)

Patrick Reed               No. 2 (62.6)

Brooks Koepka            No. 3 (60.0)

Cameron Smith          No. 8 (59.6)

Sergio Garcia              No. 10 (55.6)

Talor Gooch                No. 11 (55.5)

Mito Pareira                No. 12 (54.3)

Charl Schwartzel        No. 14 (53.2)

Joaquin Nieman          No. 15 (52.7)

Louis Oosthuizen        No. 16 (51.3)

Abraham Ancer          No. 17 (48.0)

Kevin Na                     No. 18 (44.7)

Bryson DeChambeau  No. 23 (41.6)

Jason Kokrak              No. 26 (41.0)

Harold Varner III        No. 30 (37.6)

Phil Mickelson            No. 46 (29.6)

Thomas Pieters           No. 52 (24.0)

Bubba Watson            No. 62 (17.7)

Trump National Washington D.C.

2023 Upcoming LIV Schedule

Adelaide The Grange Golf Club, Australia (April 21-23)

Singapore Sentosa Golf Club (April 28-30)

Tulsa Cedar Ridge Country Club (May 12-14)

DC Trump National Golf Club, Washington (May 26-28)

Valderrama Real Club, Spain (June 30-July 2)

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LIV Golf: Patrick Reed to Assume Bad Guy Role

LIV: Patrick Reed—The New Bad guy in Town

With Patrick Reed becoming the latest big name to join LIV Golf, Phil Mickelson will have to relinquish the bad-guy role he’s been shouldering thus far. Phil can only claim a few months of questionable decisions and unfortunate remarks after decades of good deed and immense popularity. Reed, on the other hand, can point to a vast resume of unsavory incidents and eyebrow-raising episodes going back a great many years.

Even the swarthy new look that Phil introduced for the LIV event in London, and the testy attitude he displayed at the U.S. Open press conference, won’t change the fact that he will eventually return to his natural nice guy habitat. And while Reed has not done or said anything recently to draw the spotlight, you can be sure it won’t be long—and the media will have an enormous reservoir of ammunition to work with.

Bethpage Black, Farmingdale, NY

The Incidents

Most everyone is aware that Reed has been called out a number of times over the years for skirting the rules to improve his lie and gain an advantage on the field. The first was in 2016 during the Barclays Championship at Bethpage, when he was faced with a 300-yard second shot from heavy rough on the long par-5 13th hole. The ball was sitting down, and it was clear that Reed would have no choice but to lay back with an iron. After placing a wedge behind the ball 4-5 times as if preparing to hit the shot, all the while depressing the tall grass, he suddenly reached into his bag and whipped out a wood—an option that was originally out of the question—and striped it down the fairway to set up a short approach. He didn’t receive a penalty, because there was no official near-by and his playing partners didn’t see it.

Peter Kostis: “By the time he was done, he hit a freaking 3-wood out of there, which when I saw it, it was a sand wedge layup originally.”

2019 Hero Challenge: Building Sand Castles
Golf Digest (golfdigest.com)

Another episode occurred at the 2019 Hero Challenge, when Reed prepared to hit his third shot from a waste area on the par-5 11th hole. Sand was piled behind his ball, so he placed his wedge behind it and took a couple of “practice” back swings, sweeping the sand away to allow a nice clean strike. This time he was hit with a 2-stroke penalty, because it was simply too flagrant and observed by thousands watching the telecast.

Brooks Koepka: “…there’s no room for intentional rule breaking…Yeah. I don’t know what he was doing, building sand castles in the sand. But you know where your club is.”

The most recent blow-up came during the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, when Reed hooked his approach well left into thick, damp rough. After seeing his ball sitting well down in the grass with little chance of getting his third shot anywhere near the pin, he asked a near-by volunteer if the ball had bounced before coming to rest. When told it had flown directly into the grass without a bounce, making it possible for the ball to be embedded (which would justify relief), he quickly scooped it up and began probing with his finger—determining that it “broke ground” and was therefore entitled to a free drop. He then called for an official to examine the area where he had been probing, and received a favorable ruling. The problem is that television coverage clearly showed that the ball took a low trajectory bounce forward before coming to rest, making the chance that the ball would then “embed” in the ground extremely remote. In light of his prior infractions, more than a few eyebrows were raised.

Xander Schauffele: “Obviously, the talk amongst the boys isn’t great, but he’s protected by the Tour and that’s all that matters, I guess.”

Reed then threw Rory McIlroy under the bus, claiming he had done exactly the same thing. Indeed, Rory had taken embedded ball relief on a shot that bounced before coming to rest. The difference was that Rory’s ball had also been stepped on by a volunteer while he was trying to locate it—and of course, there has never been a question about McIlroy’s integrity.

Patrick Reed at Torrey Pines
Photo by WWLG (https://www.whywelovegolf.com)

The Rep

Reed’s tremendous talent and laser focused desire to win have always been unquestioned, as illustrated by the success he’s had at every level of golf—but his tendency for rubbing people the wrong way, combined with an abrasive public persona, have fueled his “bad guy” image. Patrick was born in San Antonio, TX and his family moved to Baton Rouge, LA when he was in his mid-teens. His record as a Junior was outstanding, leading his high school golf team to state championships in 2006 and 2007, and he reached the semi-final of the US Amateur in 2008. After High School Patrick opted to play his college golf at The University of Georgia, where his current public persona began to take shape. Confidence is a critical element for success, and Reed possessed it in abundance. His supreme confidence, however, soon morphed into what might be called “disagreeable arrogance,” impacting team chemistry. Following an alcohol related incident that would not typically result in dismissal, Reed was dropped from the program while still in his freshman year.

Jason Payne (Georgia Golf Coach): “While getting to know Patrick through the recruiting process as a coach, a few character issues came to light, that we as coaches thought we could help Patrick with,” he said. “Once Patrick was on campus for a few months, it became clear that Patrick was not going to mesh with the make-up of the team at that time, and he was dismissed from the team.”

Leads Jaguars to two National Championships
Photo by CBS Sports (https://www.cbssportsf.com)

Reed promptly transferred to Augusta University, where he led the Jaguars to consecutive NCAA Division I golf titles (2010 and 2011), while going undefeated in match play (6-0). The second championship, ironically, came when the Jaguars bested Georgia in the final, with Reed defeating Harris English in the deciding match. The win over English, who also went on to a successful PGA Tour career, burnished Reed’s reputation as a hard-nosed competitor—but his image among peers remained less than stellar.

Kevin Kisner: “They all hate him—any guys that were on the team with him hate him and that’s the same way at Augusta…. I don’t know that they’d piss on him if he was on fire, to tell you the truth.”

Following the second NCAA championship in 2011, Reed turned pro, earning exempt status on the PGA tour by 2013. Throughout his career, Patrick has recorded 9 Tour wins, including a major championship (2018 Masters) and 43 Top-10’s. He has also been outstanding at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, with a combined record of 11 wins, 6 losses and 4 ties (particularly when he defeated Rory McIlroy in 2016, one of the greatest matches in Ryder Cup history).

His successes, however, have been accompanied by statements and episodes that made Reed less than appealing in the public eye, beginning in 2014 when he declared himself to be one of the top 5 players in world after winning his 3rd tournament at 23 years old (he was No. 44 in the World Golf Rankings at the time, although the win moved him up to No. 20). At Bay Hill in 2018 an official refused to grant him relief when his ball landed in a bush, at which point he turned to the gallery and said “I guess my name needs to be Jordan Spieth.”

As P.T. Barnum said, “there is no such thing as bad publicity,” so Patrick Reed and LIV may well be a match made in heaven.

Brooks Koepka Joins LIV

LIV Update

Brooks Koepka and Abraham Ancer have become the latest PGA Tour players to announce their intention to join LIV Golf. Following a dismal finish at the U.S. Open, in the midst of a disappointing season in which he’s recorded only 2 Top-10’s and missed the cut in 6 of the 15 events played, Brooks’ departure does not come as a complete shock. Koepka has always focused primarily on the major championships, and with 4 major wins at 32 years of age, still has the opportunity to add to his record and etch his name among the greats of the game. While the USGA allowed LIV members to compete at the U.S Open, and the R&A has announced that they will be allowed to compete at the Open Championship in July, the position of the powers that be at Augusta National and the PGA of America are less than clear with regard to the 2023 Masters and PGA Championship. Should joining LIV prevent him from participating in 2 of the 4 majors going forward, Brooks may have deep regrets over his decision to take the money.

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