LIV Golf lost one of its star players as Brooks Koepka moved out.

The five-time major champion was contracted till 2026. But LIV Golf and Koepka “amicably” agreed on the separation.

For about five weeks, the LIV Golf CEO, Scott O’Neil, stayed quiet about it. But now, he has finally opened up on why he let Koepka go.  

During a press conference on 14 January 2026, O’Neil said, “I don’t think this was where [Koepka] wanted to be. He talked about some of the challenges publicly, as did his wife, and I want people in the room that are going to wrap their arms around us and say, ‘This is what I want.’ When you choose LIV, you’re not choosing easy. There’s not one person who chose this.”

He pointed out that LIV Golf has players from 26 different countries. It’s a feat that seemed almost impossible about a decade ago.

The reason? There’s no elite platform outside the USA, and that made people believe that there wouldn’t be elite golfers in 26 different countries. 

“So if you do not want to play your 20 events in the US and you are a global citizen and you believe in growing the game, that means getting on a plane and flying 20 hours,” the LIV Golf CEO continued. “How far is Riyadh? Fourteen hours? Or 22 hours to Korea, or flying for a day and going to Australia. That’s not for everybody.”

What the league expects

O’Neil weighed in on the league’s expectations regarding the golfers’ social media presence. He claimed that engaging with the media and fans is not for everybody. And O’Neil stayed unapologetically adamant to this aspect of LIV Golf.

“Our expectations are higher. What our players are asked to do is a lot, and I don’t apologize for it to you or to them. I will tell you I’ve got 57 guys that are running towards the light, and they understand the mission. They understand what’s expected of them, and they jump in and dive it and do it extraordinarily well.”

Unfortunately, Koepka’s goals didn’t align with LIV Golf’s by the end of 2025. But that’s not a problem for O’Neil. He still has Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Cameron Smith to boost the league.

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu