Brooks Koepka admits LIV Golf is “little further” from where they hoped in 4th season

5-time major champion Brooks Koepka expressed that the LIV Golf was a bit further away from where the originally anticipated.

Brooks Koepka admits LIV Golf is “little further” from where they hoped in 4th season

Brooks Koepka (Image via X/@NUCLRGolf)

As LIV Golfers get ready for the LIV Golf Miami event, Brooks Koepka dropped a blunt take regarding his league. The 5-time major champion admitted that the league is a “little further” away from where they had hoped in the 4th season.

The creation of LIV Golf left a huge divide in the game of golf. The Saudi-funded tour was established in 2021 with it’s first season being played in 2022. Their establishment saw several top PGA Tour and DP World Tour stars leave their respective tours and join them on big money contracts.

YouTube video

Koepka was one of those who signed with the LIV Golf league and has played since the start. The American golfer has also achieved huge success on his tour.

Despite the big names on the tour, the league has struggled to find audiences. Apart from the LIV Golf Adelaide event, the breakaway tour has recorded a low viewership and attendance.

While speaking on this matter in the press conference on Wednesday, the Smash GC captain did not mince his words and claimed that his league is behind. However, he also pointed out that they are making progress.

I think we all hoped (LIV Golf) would have been a little bit further along, and that’s no secret. No matter where you’re at, you always hope everything is further along. But they’re making progress, and it seems to be going in the right direction.

Brooks Koepka said

Brooks Koepka made some similar comments last month while appearing on The Joe Pump Show of Joe Pompliano. The golfer claimed that his league was “quite far” behind where they should have been at this moment.

These comments from Koepka also come at a time when there have been talks about his future. After Fred Couples revealed that the LIV Golfer wants to come back and play on the tour, Koepka expressed uncertainty regarding his future.

Scott O’Neil claims LIV Golf does not need merger deal with the PGA Tour

One topic regarding golf that has been the talking point is the merger deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Ahead of the LIV Golf Miami event, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil claimed that a merger deal was not needed.

Scott O'Neil
Scott O’Neil (Image via Sports Business Journal)

A framework agreement regarding a merger deal was announced in 2023 when the PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, shook hands. Since then, the two parties have been working on getting this deal done.

In the past few months, US President Donald Trump has also intervened in this deal. However, Scott O’Neil thinks that his tour does not need a merger deal. He thinks that a deal will be good as long as they are growing the game.

Have to do a deal? No. Nice to do a deal? So long as we’re all focused on the same thing, which is growing the game of golf. I think we’re all kind of up for that.

Scott O’Neil told the reporters in the LIV Golf Miami press conference

O’Neil was appointed as the CEO of LIV Golf this year and replaced Greg Norman as the top boss of the breakaway tour.

Scott O’Neil drops huge viewership claim regarding season-opener in Saudi Arabia

While speaking with the media on Wednesday, Scott O’Neil dropped a huge viewership claim regarding the season-opener in Saudi Arabia. Fans on social media were then left wondering whether this was true or not.

Scott O'Neil
Scott O’Neil (Image via Golf Digest)

The former Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils CEO claimed that the first event of the year drew in 2.5 million worldwide viewership. However, as per the records from Nielsen U.S. TV data, the opening round of LIV Golf Riyadh drew in around 12k viewers. As for the final round, the league recorded around 54k viewers.

So far, LIV Golf has completed 4 events in the 2025 season. The biggest one once again turned out to be the Adelaide one. As per reports, the LIV Golf Adelaide event from the Grange Golf Club drew in around 220,000 viewers.

The league will now turn it’s attention to the Miami event at the Trump Doral Course in Florida. Following this event, 12 of their members will leave for the Augusta National Golf Club as the Masters Tournament takes place next week.