Rory McIlroy and PGA stars baited by Brooks Koepka as LIV star drops joke
Cheeky Brooks Koepka has taken benefit of his platform on the US Open to fireside a not-so-subtle one-liner within the path of his detractors on the PGA Tour. The PGA Championship winner is in Los Angeles this week for the third main of the yr and is as soon as once more amongst the favourites to carry the trophy on Sunday.
The LA Country Club event is the primary to pit LIV Golf and PGA Tour golfers collectively for the reason that sporting world was left surprised by an announcement final week that the 2 warring operations have agreed to work in tandem going forward, alongside the DP World Tour.
Koepka was one of many headline rebels who selected to ditch their PGA Tour membership in desire for the Saudi-backed breakaway league, who reportedly paid him an astonishing £78m ($100m) sign-on payment.
And that call now seems to have labored massively in his favour after final week’s framework announcement which means that Koepka and his LIV Golf colleagues will quickly have the ability to get pleasure from all of the perks of the PGA Tour however with considerably deeper pockets.
As the sport’s prime gamers put together to get their US Open campaigns underway on Thursday, questions across the groundbreaking settlement have naturally been fired by the assembled media at representatives of either side of the sporting cleaning soap opera.
But whereas Koepka was capable of bat away the vast majority of questions put to him by reporters, the 33-year-old could not resist ending off his pre-tournament press convention with a sneaky wisecrack, sending a message to PGA stars who are usually not anticipated to welcome LIV Golf gamers again into the fold with open arms.
As he acquired as much as go away his chair, a smiling Koepka mentioned: “Thanks, see you guys at Travelers next week.”
The Travelers Championship is the subsequent occasion scheduled to happen on the PGA Tour. As the penny dropped, a ripple of laughter unfold across the room.
According to Sportskeeda, a person on the LA Country Club was heard saying “Really Brooks” to Koepka in reference to his cheeky joke, earlier than the five-time Major winner responded by making a hand gesture that recommended he was stirring the pot.
One of the main opponents of the LIV Golf tour is Rory McIlory, who, within the wake of the introduced settlement between the three excursions mentioned: “We can’t just let LIV golfers back in.”
Koepka and McIlroy could have the chance to debate the merger at size on Thursday, ought to they need, after the 2 stars have been paired collectively within the first spherical of the US Open alongside Hideki Matsuyama, in what guarantees to be essentially the most high-profile grouping of the opening day.