Brooks Koepka has criticised LIV Golf bosses for leaving the league lagging “behind where it should be”. The American believes the appointment of Scott McNeil as CEO is a positive step forward but has warned that LIV should be further ahead of schedule.
Koepka joined LIV Golf in 2022 but says he has not seen the progress that he expected. The 34-year-old says bosses must be better about bringing in new sponsors, striking improved broadcast deals, and marketing to an international audience.
In a candid criticism of the league, Koepka told Joe Pompliano’s podcast: “Look we’re four years in, it’s just getting its feet wet and figuring out what direction they want it to go. Obviously, there’s been a lot of change and hires of people within LIV and now having Scott…
“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 because 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.
“The new TV deal definitely helps, but we need to take that and expand it and grow it. We’re not on Fox every time we play. So we’ve still got room to grow but we’ve got the right people in charge now and I’m excited to see where it goes.”
In February, LIV Golf agreed a deal with ITV to bring the league to free-to-air television in the UK. There was also a renewed deal with FOX in the United States.
It comes with LIV Golf and the PGA Tour still apart in negotiations over a merger. A ‘framework agreement’ was reached nearly two years ago but there has been no formal confirmation that a deal has taken place.
Representatives from both tours – which have been at loggerheads since the rebel Saudi-backed LIV Golf was formed in 2021 – have held discussions at the White House. That was because US President Donald Trump boasted he could resolve the civil war in “10-15 minutes”.
Tiger Woods and Adam Scott represented the PGA Tour in talks, while Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, was also present. The PGA Tour has since said that “some hurdles remain” before a deal can be struck.
