Brooks Koepka’s frustration boiled over at the LIV Golf Dallas, leading to a dramatic smashing of his driver and destruction of a tee box marker, followed by his withdrawal from the event.
Category: LIV Tour
Professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway shortly before the famous Indy 500 race, as documented in his Instagram post. Among other things, he took part in a ride in a two-seater IndyCar and did not miss the opportunity to show off his own drives on the track.
The LIV Golf Final in Indianapolis
The visit could be connected to the LIV Golf Tournament, which will take place 30 kilometers northeast of the Indianapolis Motor Speeday. The LIV Golf Indianapolis Tournament is the season finale of the 2025 LIV Golf League and will be held August 15-17, 2025 on the Championship Course at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield. This Pete Dye-designed golf course was chosen for its high-quality facilities. The tournament is expected to attract top players such as Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and others and is expected to have an economic impact of 21 to 29 million dollars on the region. It will feature intense individual and team competition as well as fan activities and entertainment.
Bryson DeChambeau at the Indy 500
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Augusta was, as always, the stage for great golf moments – and apparently also for a meeting away from the fairways. At the Masters, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil and the new OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman were seen under the famous oak tree – a place where important matters in golf are often discussed. Nothing has been officially confirmed, but according to multiple reports, talks between LIV Golf and the OWGR about possible recognition of the league for world ranking points are said to be taking place. This would be the first time since the rejected application in 2022 that the two sides have moved closer again.
Talks are progressing between LIV Golf and the OWGR for the LIV Golf League to receive World Ranking Points. Multiple conversations have taken place, including an in-person meeting between LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil and OWGR Chairman Trevor Immelman at the Masters.
In order to… pic.twitter.com/iyemeXFSep
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) April 30, 2025
Possible Changes to LIV Golf’s Format
Since its founding in 2022, LIV Golf has been striving for recognition by the OWGR. So far, this has failed due to criticism of the format—particularly because of the team competition and the lack of relegation. Now, it seems things are moving forward. With new leadership on both sides, structural reforms, and the first visible signs of rapprochement—as reports suggest—the door to the world rankings may be opening a little wider.
What also seems apparent: LIV Golf appears willing to make structural adjustments. To accommodate the OWGR, there are said to be plans for clearer sporting mobility in the future. Players who end up in the so called “Drop Zone” at the end of the season would automatically be eliminated. A return would then only be possible through the Promotions Event or the Asian Tour.
OWGR Points as the Key to the Majors
The debate over ranking points has tangible consequences for many LIV golfers. While top players like Jon Rahm or Brooks Koepka are secured through major successes, others lack guaranteed access to big tournaments. The world ranking is the central criterion—without points, no starts in the majors. Integration into the OWGR system would significantly improve the competitive prospects of many LIV golfers.
For players who joined the LIV Golf League, qualifying for Major championships has become increasingly difficult. Since they do not receive Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points in their own league and are banned from participating in PGA Tour events, there are limited opportunities for LIV players to secure a spot in the sport’s most prestigious tournaments.
However, both the USGA and The R&A have responded to this challenge by creating explicit qualifying paths for LIV players, allowing them easier access to the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Their reasoning? They want to ensure that the best golfers in the world are represented in their fields.
The first Major of the year, though, is the Masters – traditionally the most exclusive of the four Majors, with a limited field of around 90 players invited annually to compete at Augusta National Golf Club. There is no direct qualification path for LIV Golf players, yet 12 LIV golfers will once again be part of the Masters field in 2025.
One group of players that will always have a place at Augusta is the Masters champions. Former winners receive a lifetime invitation to the event. This includes Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, and Bubba Watson. Other LIV players qualified by winning one of the other three Majors in recent years – Bryson DeChambeau (U.S. Open 2024), Brooks Koepka (PGA Championship 2023), and Cameron Smith (The Open 2022). Tyrrell Hatton may not yet have a Major title, but he finished inside the top 12 at the 2024 Masters, earning him an automatic return. He is also currently ranked inside the world’s top 50, another standard route for qualification. Joaquin Niemann, while not officially qualified through traditional categories, received a special invitation from Augusta National due to his exceptional performances, similar to last year.
All LIV Golfers Competing at the 2025 US Masters:
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Brooks Koepka
- Cameron Smith
- Dustin Johnson
- Sergio Garcia
- Phil Mickelson
- Jon Rahm
- Patrick Reed
- Charl Schwartzel
- Bubba Watson
- Joaquin Niemann
Also worth mentioning is Laurie Canter, a former LIV player. He was still listed as a reserve early in 2024 but later left the league entirely. Since then, he’s been able to play events like The Players Championship, having qualified through strong performances on the DP World Tour. His current position inside the world’s top 50 also earned him a spot at the 2025 US Masters.
Admission: While the LIV Golf League likes to indulge in superlatives, there are some protagonists on the competition circuit who take a very realistic view of the construct. Brooks Koepka, for example, who, as usual, doesn’t mince his words and clearly states that the LIV has not developed as desired. ‘Look we’re four years in, it’s just getting its feet wet and figuring out what direction they want it to go,’ said the five-time major winner on “The Joe Pomp Show” hosted by Joe Pompliano, an entrepreneur and investor who likes to get involved in the business of opinion-making in golf. Koepka admitted during the interview: ‘We are behind, to be quite fair. Behind where we should be. From bringing sponsors in to hitting the international market and the US market.”
Brooks Koepka: LIV Golf behind expectations
But it’s fun, it’s evolving, technologies evolving, and look its just golf at the end of the day, and you got to make it more fun and entertaining and the attention span that the younger generation has isnt as long as everyone sitting on the couch watching golf for five six hours.
“You have to be able to innovate and create different things – thats what we’re trying to do, TGL’s doing the same thing – its just a matter of putting a good product out in front of people and at the end of the day if you put good golf in front of people they are going to want to watch it.
Brooks Koepka
The 34-year-old obviously combines this with a side blow against the previous LIV impresario Greg Norman, even if he does not mention his name. But criticism resonates when Koepka places his hopes in the new CEO Scott O’Neil: ‘Obviously, there’s been a lot of change and hires of people within LIV, and I think Scott’s a great guy, and he can lead LIV to where it needs to be and where I think it should be’
It took less than half an hour for LIV Golf Adelaide to serve up its first unforgettable moment in the first round. Former Masters champion Patrick Reed stood on the iconic 12th hole at The Grange Golf Club—dubbed the “Watering Hole.” A short par 3, framed by a sea of revelers primed for fireworks. And then came the shot: The ball landed, rolled, and disappeared into the cup. The already frenzied grandstand erupted. Beer cups flew skyward, rained down onto the fairway and green, and Reed, arms thrust in triumph, basked in the chaos. A hole-in-one on this stage? A guaranteed spectacle.
Reed’s Shot Causes LIV Golf Frenzy
Reed’s start had been anything but remarkable. Opening his round on the 11th in LIV’s shotgun format, he stumbled out of the gate with a bogey. But the 12th hole, a par-3, flipped the script. A crisp strike, an ideal ball flight, a clean landing—and just like that, the ball disappeared.
An Ace for an Ace(s)
If there’s a hole built for these moments, it’s the 12th. Chase Koepka’s ace here in 2023 set the precedent, and Reed’s effort only added to the lore. As his ball vanished, the crowd detonated in celebration. Drinks took flight, cups littered the green, and Reed soaked in the moment, grinning ear to ear. Northern Ireland’s commentator David Feherty summed it up dryly: “Well, that didn’t take long.” The atmosphere rivaled the electric 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, known for producing golf’s biggest party moments.
🚨 @PReedGolf ACE ON THE WATERING HOLE!
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) February 14, 2025
Watch LIVE now on the @foxsports App 📺#LIVGolfAdelaide @4AcesGC_ pic.twitter.com/EIHZXKtsMu
First-Round Takeaways
Despite the magic moment, Reed couldn’t sustain the momentum, finishing the day at one-over par. Meanwhile, Sam Horsfield surged to the top of the leaderboard, carding six birdies for a six-under-par round.
Tom McKibbin is probably the best known of the six new additions to the LIV Golf League 2025. With 292,500 dollars for a tie for 15th place, the Northern Irishman only collected around 50,000 dollars less at the season opener than for winning the Porsche European Open 2023 on the DP World Tour. And there will probably be a share of the team success in Riyadh anyway, which will earn Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII three million dollars. McKibbin’s move to the competitive circuit is therefore likely to have already paid off, for which he even threw Rory McIlroy’s advice to the wind. The two share the same home club, Holywood GC near Belfast, and the four-time major winner – a millennial by the way – had advised his young colleague to work his way up the DP World Tour and make a go of it on the PGA Tour, for which McKibbin qualified last year: “If I were you, I’d make a different decision to the one you’re thinking of making. It would be a waste of your enormous potential.”
McKibbin on missing out: “I am not in these Majors anyway”
But McKibbin didn’t care and chose the penuncle. Of course, if he was offered such prospects – why not take them? The Northern Irishman is just the latest in a series of young players to follow the call of fast money: Money first, what’s the rocky road to the majors or team competitions like the Ryder Cup compared to that. McKibbin’s mantra in this regard could not be more pragmatic and is as telling as it is significant: “I’m not in these majors at the moment anyway, so it doesn’t bother me too much.” He was number 106 in the world when he switched sides, but now there are no more OWGR points for the time being. And the appointment to the GB&I team for the Team Cup 2025, i.e. the nomination to the extended circle of European Ryder Cuppers, doesn’t seem to have triggered a surge of ambition either: Profession instead of vocation, the path of least resistance and work-life balance instead of competitive toughness and perseverance. And that at the age of 22. Oh, right, McKibbin has an excuse for that too: “I made this decision because I’m young. It [LIV] is something completely different; something that probably appeals to more people my age.”
For some, this fulfills every cliché that is often attributed to Generation Z and the attitude of these so-called millennial children towards challenges. For example, the management consultant and lawyer Susanne Nickel, who wrote a book in 2024 entitled “Verzogen, verweichlicht, verletzt” (Spoiled, effeminate, hurt) and defines Gen Z as the product of an affluent society that tends to overprotect and lacks discipline, motivation and resilience. So, if the Zoomers determine the zeitgeist, McKibbin would be a “model boy”.
Until now, LIV golfers could only qualify directly for the biggest tournaments of the year via the world ranking, unless they had already qualified for majors through past successes. Without world ranking points, however, this becomes more and more difficult, which is why the USGA now provides a full exemption for a LIV golfer at the US Open 2025.
US Open introduces qualification criteria for LIV golfers
Already this year, a place in the field will be awarded to the best LIV golfer who has not yet qualified for the US Open at Oakmont Country Club and is in the top 3 of the LIV Golf individual rankings (as of 19 May 2025). In addition, the top 10 in the LIV Golf individual rankings (as of 7 April 2025) will receive a place in local qualifying for the major tournament and can therefore also qualify.
In 2026, there will additionally be a direct starting place for the best, not yet qualified LIV Golf player from the top 3 of the 2025 final ranking, as well as places for local qualifying based on the top 10 of the final ranking.
‘The USGA continues to evaluate the opportunities that exist to e“The USGA continues to evaluate the pathways that exist to ensure those playing their best have the opportunity to compete in our national championship,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer. “Consistent with our historical approach, we continuously evaluate talent levels on professional tours and in amateur events, which has led us to add a new exemption category.”
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil is delighted by the news. “We’re pleased that the USGA has formally created a new exemption for LIV Golf players to compete in the U.S. Open and appreciate Mike Whan’s leadership and commitment to growing the game of golf. Every golf fan in the world longs to see the greatest players in the world competing on golf’s biggest stages at the majors.
The US Open is the first major tournament to follow this path. The PGA Championship has extended a special invitation to LIV golfer Joaquin Niemann, as it did in 2024.
Tom McKibbin is joining the Jon Rahm-led Legion XIII team and will play golf at LIV Golf in 2025. The transfer of the 22-year-old Northern Irishman, who is considered a close friend of Rory McIlroy, had already been expected and has now been officially confirmed. Like McIlroy, McKibbin comes from Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland. McKibbin had not commented on the first rumors regarding a move to LIV, which emerged at the beginning of January. He secured a PGA Tour card for the first time last season in 2024, but is now forgoing it in favor of his start at LIV. In response to the rumors, McIlroy explained at a press conference that he had spoken to McKibbin on the phone and clearly advised him against the switch.
Jon Rahm personally announces in an Instagram post that McKibbin will complete his team in the 2025 LIV season and welcomes him:
The LIV season starts next week from February 6 to 8 at the Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia, where 13 teams will compete with four players each. There have been several changes in the run-up to the event: back in December 2024, it was announced that Dane Frederik Kjettrup would be joining the Cleeks GC managed by Martin Kaymer, while Spaniard Luis Masaveu was announced as a new member of the Fireballs GC under team captain Sergio Garcia.
The complete overview of the LIV teams
| Team | Player |
|---|---|
| 4Aces GC |
|
| Cleeks GC |
|
| Crushers GC |
|
| Fireballs GC |
|
| HyFlyers GC |
|
| Iron Heads GC |
|
| Legion XIII |
|
| Majesticks GC |
|
| RangeGoats GC |
|
| Ripper GC |
|
| Smash GC |
|
| Stinger GC |
|
| Torque GC |
|
| Wild Card Players |
|
It was billed as a clash of giants, but in the end the “showdown” between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour at Shadow Creek turned out to be a one-sided affair. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy (PGA Tour) gave their opponents Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka (LIV Golf) no chance and showed who currently has the upper hand in professional golf.
Rory McIlroy’s: A picture-book eagle putt
Scheffler and McIlroy made it clear from the very first minute that they had arrived as favorites. Rory McIlroy, who was on top form right from the start, provided the highlight of the evening with an eagle putt over 12 meters on the fourth hole. “Rory’s start was important for our team,” said Scheffler, praising his partner. This gave the PGA stars an unassailable lead early on.
Rory from way downtown for eagle! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sOHFDHqzja
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) December 18, 2024
Rusty and outclassed: LIV remains without a chance
DeChambeau and Koepka, who had not competed since the end of the LIV season in September, looked visibly rusty and were unable to counter the pressure from their opponents.
The format of the match was divided into three segments: a six-hole four-ball match, a six-hole four-ball match and singles matches over the last six holes. Despite the different formats, the LIV players were not in the lead in any of the matches. In the four-ball, they were already hopelessly behind after just four holes, and Koepka also sealed the loss of points in the foursome with a three-putt bogey on the last hole.
The singles matches on the last six holes finally decided the outcome: McIlroy and Scheffler won confidently, and the match ended on the 16th hole – before the spectators even got to see the famous par-3 17th hole at Shadow Creek.
DeChambeau, who wore an oversized jacket against the chilly evening air during the match, was nevertheless combative: “I’d love to get another opportunity,” said DeChambeau. “It was a bit of a pillow fight for us.”
Scheffler and McIlroy’s victory earned them 5 million dollars each in cryptocurrency and capped off a successful year for both players. Scheffler had previously won in the Bahamas, while McIlroy had won the European Tour final in Dubai.