Johnson, Koepka fire back at fellow player’s schedule complaints

Jed Morgan Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

LIV Golf stars Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka fire back at fellow player’s schedule complaints

Originally posted on Sportsnaut | By Jason Burgos | Last updated 4/20/23

While one LIV Golf talent is no fan of the new tour’s limited schedule, two of their biggest stars have zero issues with it.

LIV Golf has been able to quickly compete with the PGA Tour for several reasons. The most prominent of which is the fact that the Saudi Arabia-backed league has absurd amounts of money at its disposal and can pay athletes massive signing bonuses and record-breaking tournament purses.

That is why big names from the PGA Tour, like Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Cameron Smith, have taken their talents to the rival league over the last year. However, many of those veterans found LIV Golf appealing for one other major reason: The short schedule.

While the PGA Tour has a huge slate of tournaments each year, LIV Golf only has 14 events in 2023, which is up from their inaugural season. It gives many star players more time to be with their families than if they were a part of the grueling PGA schedule. However, Jed Morgan publicly complained about the schedule last week.

“There’s obviously quite a bit of time off with the LIV stuff at the moment, which is a little bit frustrating,” Morgan said. “Part of being a good golfer is playing a few tournaments in a row and getting some form that way. I think a lot of the guys would like to see it grow to 18 events, but that’s from a young guy speaking. Others might like 14.”

Ahead of LIV Golf’s next event in Australia, the topic of the tour’s schedule was brought up during a shared press conference with a few top stars, and Dustin Johnson and 2023 Masters runner-up Brooks Koepka pushed back against Morgan’s opinion by praising the current LIV schedule.

“I’m fine just where it is,” Johnson opened up by saying. Koepka followed up by adding, “I think right now it’s just perfect. We’ve got 14 here and then four majors. 18 is a pretty good schedule.”

LIV Golf players will be allowed to compete at the four majors this year after being banned from play in 2022. However, with LIV Golf not being recognized on the world golf rankings, many of those players may quickly lose eligibility in upcoming years.

This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission.

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