A golf star on the PGA tour has taken a swipe at Brooks Koepka ’s maiden LIV title win. The American captured his first trophy on the Saudi-backed circuit after seeing off Peter Uhlein in a play-off to land the LIV Golf Invitational trophy in the final individual event of the tour's inaugural season in Jeddah.
The four-time major champion defeated his Smash GC teammate in the third play-off hole after his birdie on the 18th left him 12 under in Saudi Arabia. As the night drew in, Koepka sealed the win and captured his first trophy since winning the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February 2021.
It was also his largest payday, as he claimed the £3.6 million first prize and a further £670,000 for his share in his team's triumph. While many were happy to see the 32-year-old win big, compatriot Joel Dahmen took a perceived dig at the controversial circuit’s viewing figures. “If a player wins a golf tournament in a forest and no one sees it, does it count?,” he said in a cheeky tweet.
Dahmen’s comments come as LIV golf struggled for viewership, with only 17,000 people tuning in during the latest event on their circuit’s YouTube channel. Each tournament throughout the series was streamed on YouTube after Greg Norman and co were unable to agree a TV deal.
This makes the low viewing figures even more disappointing given the series was available to watch for free. This is not the first time Dahmen has been critical of LIV Golf. Following the news that 11 LIV players had filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA tour in an effort to lift their suspensions, Dahmen tweeted: "It sounds like some people want their cake and to eat it too. Please stay away in your fantasy land. Sincerely, most tour players."
He added: "I don’t have an issue with anyone going to LIV. I have an issue with them wanting to comeback and play. If the grass is so green, why do you want to come back?" Now back in the winners circle, Koepka, paid tribute to his coaching team after calling on the trio of Peter Cohen, Claude Harmon III and Jeff Pierce to reinvigorate his game in recent months.
"The last two years... they haven't been fun," Koepka said. "It's been a long road, I'm super excited and my old team, we've got the band back together, literally.
"A couple months ago I got Claude back on the team and Pete who I've worked with very very hard and Jeff as well. Shoutout to them, this is for them.
"I didn't know if my career was over for a half-second and I told Claude that I wasn't sure whether I was going to play so it's nice to come back and be able to win."
