By Rahul Banerji
Former world no. 1 Brooks Koepka and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer are expected to be the next big names crossing over from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.
More than one US media outlet in the last 24 hours has said that Koepka will join his brother Chase in the Greg Norman-headed breakaway golf league.
CNN quoted ESPN to say that the four-time major winner had already signed up with LIV and the announcement was forthcoming.
LIV Golf held the first of its $25 million Invitational Series near London recently and the next one is due this month end on American soil so the bigger the splash the better it would be for the Saudi-funded league.
Non-stop chatter
LIV-linked speculation is everywhere. At last week’s US Open, it was the subject of more questions at press conferences than most other topics, going by reports.
So much so that Koepka actually complained the issue was casting a “black cloud” over the major just days before signing up himself to line up alongside long-time rival Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed,
All three, plus a few more big names including world number 20 Ancer are expected to play the second Invitational Series at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland in a few days.
If Norman wanted to ring a loud bell on US soil, he has very successfully done so with the help of a press corps determined to uphold the PGA Tours’ primacy – and run those joining LIV Golf down.
Earlier in the week, Golf Monthly reported that not just Koepka, but a younger lot of PGA Tour stars including Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Tokyo Olympic champion Xander Schauffele were on the LIV short list.
With The Open just weeks away, LIV and Norman will strike a heavy blow if they actually entice Morikawa, the British event’s defending champion, away.
Also read: Reed, DeChambeau join LIV Golf and will play Oregon event
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