Brooks Koepka explains real reason he signed nine-figure LIV Golf deal

Brooks Koepka has revealed the motivation behind his controversial U-turn to join LIV Golf last year was the big-money contract.

The five-time major champion told the BS w/ Jake Paul Podcast that the real reason he defected from the PGA Tour to the lucrative Saudi-backed league was “for the dough.”

Koepka was an outspoken critic of the fledgling league after its launch last year, claiming: “They’ll get their guys. Somebody will sell out and go to it.”

But the former world No.1 made a big U-turn in June 2022 when he was announced as LIV’s latest signing.

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He said “opinions change” as he cited the toll on his body from a debilitating knee injury and his desire to spend more time with his family as key reasons behind the move.

And now Koepka has confirmed a nine-figure signing bonus, which was also handed to the league’s biggest names including Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, was the main factor behind his decision.

“Look, I’ll be honest with you – I signed for the dough,” he revealed. “I’m 100% behind that. I don’t know if tomorrow I’ll get in a car accident and never play golf again but my family is taken care of.

“That was a big thing for me, not doing it for anything else. Everybody else, they go to their 9-5, most of them don’t like their 9-5 but they’re doing it cos they get the pay cheque . That’s the same thing as us. I enjoy playing golf, I enjoy winning – I’d say I’d do it for free because I love it that much, but at the same time you’ve got to take care of each other.”

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On the same podcast, Koepka also opened up on showing his vulnerability in Netflix’s “Full Swing” series, after a frightening knee injury in 2021 left him wondering if he wanted to keep playing competitive golf.

“It was a mental thing,” he explained. “I lost all confidence. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to keep playing, which is not fun. I wake up every day and I can’t bend my knee. I know I’m supposed to. If you just don’t feel like you can do something, you’re not going to do something, that’s the hard part.”

This week, Koepka is in Miami competing for his Smash GC team in LIV’s $50m Team Championship season finale at Trump Doral.

The 33-year-old earned $4million for winning the final regular season event in Jeddah last week, whilst also banking an extra $4m bonus for finishing third in the league”s individual standings.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.