It should have really come as no surprise to anyone that Brooks Koepka became the first player to win a major championship after joining LIV Golf.
Brooks Koepka has been golf’s ultimate prizefighter over the last decade. He has won five major titles, while he had won just four regular events on the PGA Tour before his departure for LIV Golf.
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Predict where Brooks will finish in his first start back on the PGA Tour…
Koepka did have plenty of success on LIV, winning five times. However, his performances in the majors have dipped significantly.
Brooks Koepka discusses his underwhelming major form since his PGA Championship victory
The 35-year-old has not registered a top 10 in the four biggest events of the year since his win at the 2023 PGA Championship.
And in 2025, Koepka missed the cut at three of the four majors. It was a far cry from his form in 2019 when his worst major result was tied for fourth.
There were issues away from the course. But some fans will be tempted to point at LIV as one of the reasons that Koepka has not been any sort of factor in the majors over the last two years.
However, speaking to the media ahead of his PGA Tour return at the Farmers Insurance Open this week, Koepka downplayed the idea that the LIV schedule negatively impacted his major form.
“It doesn’t matter, preparation. If you don’t play well those weeks, I mean, it’s tough to, number one, make a cut in a major, and then to win one is extremely difficult. Everything’s kind of got to go your way, bounces have to be right, you have to have some luck,” he said.
“I just didn’t play good last year. I don’t think, maybe the end of ’24, just wasn’t playing that great. So it’s tough, I’m not going to put an excuse on anything else other than I’m the one holding the club, I’m the one who’s got to execute everything and I just didn’t do a good enough job.”
A content Brooks Koepka could be a very dangerous Brooks Koepka
Koepka certainly looked to avoid saying anything negative about LIV during his press conference. And that is more than understandable. The American never seemed to lash out at the PGA Tour after his initial exit.
If golf was the main reason for Koepka’s departure, he did a very good job of hiding that on Tuesday. It appears that playing regularly in the United States is particularly important for him at this stage of his career and life.
So that may be the crucial factor if Koepka does rediscover his magic touch in the majors – rather than the fact that he has left LIV for the PGA Tour.
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