{"id":681404,"date":"2026-01-08T04:07:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T04:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/681404\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T04:07:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T04:07:19","slug":"jon-rahm-makes-confession-about-brooks-koepkas-liv-golf-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/681404\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Rahm makes confession about Brooks Koepka’s LIV Golf exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jon Rahm says he was aware <\/strong>Brooks Koepka<\/strong><\/a> was likely to quit LIV Golf.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Five-time major champion Koepka, 36, became the first big name to quit the PIF-backed league last December.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The American controversially quit the PGA Tour<\/a> in 2022 and won five LIV Golf events over four seasons. He was also the first LIV player to capture a major at the PGA Championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Koepka had one year remaining on his contract that was reportedly worth north of $100m but, according to LIV Golf chief executive Scott O’Neil, was allowed to walk away early<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Family has always guided Brooks’ decisions, and he feels this is the right moment to spend more time at home,” read a statement from LIV.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Last October, Koepka’s wife, Jena Sims<\/a>, revealed she sadly suffered a miscarriage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rahm told the latest edition of GOLF’s Subpar<\/a> he was aware Koepka was “dealing with some stuff off the golf course”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Brooks <\/p>\n

Brooks Koepka<\/p>\n

“I had an idea [Koepka was leaving], but more through him than the league itself,” said Rahm<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I don’t know what happened, but I know he was dealing with some stuff off the golf course.<\/p>\n

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“I still don’t know what’s happened, so I think I saw they made an announcement about a miscarriage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“So, luckily, knock on wood, I can’t say what that feels like, but I don’t wish it on anybody. I know that’s tough on some people.<\/p>\n

“I wish him the best. I’ve had some great times with Brooks on the golf course”<\/p>\n

Rahm was referencing his 2023 Masters victory where they played together in the final group. Koepka had a comfortable lead but surrendered it to the Spaniard, later admitting he choked. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The two also faced each other in a play-off at LIV’s stop at The Greenbrier in 2024 and they have locked horns in the Ryder Cup<\/a> on more than one occasion. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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“It’s been, it’s always fun to play with fast, honest guy,” Rahm said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Wish him nothing but the best. I mean, obviously, I wish he’d stay and keep playing with them, but hopefully we can compete for either other events [and] majors in the future.”<\/p>\n

Where Koepka plies his trade before the first major of the season is unclear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The likely destination for Koepka is the DP World Tour given he came through the ranks on the Challenge Tour before joining the PGA Tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is speculation, though, that Koepka may have to forfeit cash should he play in a DP World or PGA Tour event before his contract officially expires.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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In that scenario, Koepka could turn to LIV’s official feeder, the International Series on the Asian Tour, to remain sharp.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jon <\/p>\n

Jon Rahm<\/p>\n

Rahm said: “I mean, I know he played DP World Tour events in the fall, which he has the last few years, so he’s played those events.<\/p>\n

“He almost won in France, right? So I guess right now [he will] probably keep playing those events and come August, right, he’ll be eligible again to be able to play, so I don’t know.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He won a major in 23, so in theory he should be exempt.”<\/p>\n

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The PGA Tour deem LIV Golf events “unauthorised” and even non-members are subject to one-year bans should they tee up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pat Perez, a former LIV pro with aspirations to play the PGA Tour Champions, says he is subject to the suspension for simply appearing on a broadcast.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rahm said he assumes Koepka will be held to a different standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Like, I won’t say much more on that, but that’s a little ridiculous,” Rahm said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Whatever Koepka decides to do, Rahm believes he won’t be playing a burdensome schedule.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“He’ll probably play at least the minimum, I would say,” said Rahm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The events he likes, the big ones, if he can make himself into elevated events or get invites to elevated events, he would play those as well.”<\/p>\n

Rahm provides update on LIV Golf fines \"Jon <\/p>\n

Jon Rahm<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Jon Rahm also offered an updated on what is transpiring behind the scenes between LIV Golf and the DP World Tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was fined for playing LIV tournaments which conflicted with DP World Tour events, without requesting permission from Wentworth HQ.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The situation threatened Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton’s involvement in the Ryder Cup but the pair appealed their fines, allowing them to help Europe against the United States last September.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is understood their case will be heard before the first major of the year but it assumed the golfers will lose their cases given the precedent that was previously set.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rahm told the podcast that he believes the situation will be resolved<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy would welcome Koepka back \"Rory <\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy<\/p>\n

Several PGA Tour members have weighed in on Koepka’s decision to quit LIV.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Rory McIlroy was once one of LIV’s harshest critics but the Northern Irishman has slowly changed his position on his view of the rival league.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McIlroy said he no longer has an issue with players returning to the PGA Tour from LIV.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he acknowledged the situation with Koepka may be legally tricky<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“What Brooks has done in the game of golf, it would be good for everyone to have him back,” McIlroy told The Overlap.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s hard,” McIlroy said. “You can’t treat one person differently than you treat others.<\/p>\n

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“And as much as the Tour would like to treat Brooks differently, it sets a legal precedent, because of the lawsuits that have been going on and everything else behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

“He’s still exempt on Tour because of his major wins. That’s not the hurdle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The hurdle is how they have treated others that have tried to come back, serve suspensions, or whatever it is. That’s the difficult thing.”<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jon Rahm says he was aware Brooks Koepka was likely to quit LIV Golf.\u00a0 Five-time major champion Koepka,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[33197,2826,34074,4299,4298,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-681404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-brooks-koepka","9":"tag-golf","10":"tag-jon-rahm","11":"tag-liv-golf","12":"tag-pga-tour","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115857512572262628","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}