(Reuters) – Four-times major champion Brooks Koepka said on Wednesday he feels the proposed Super Golf League (SGL) still has a future even though several top players have expressed their commitment to competing on the PGA Tour.
Koepka is among those who have pledged loyalty to the PGA Tour but expects the Saudi-funded breakaway league, which is trying to lure players away with the promise of huge paydays, will manage to assemble a roster of talent.
“Everyone talks about money. They’ve got enough of it. I don’t see it backing down; they can just double up and they’ll figure it out,” Koepka told reporters ahead of this week’s Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. “They’ll get their guys. Somebody will sell out and go to it.”
Former world number one Greg Norman is spearheading the Super Golf League as chief executive officer of LIV Golf Investments, which is backed by the Saudi Investment Fund. No golfers have publicly signed up for the proposed league.
Over the weekend, four-times major winner Rory McIlroy called the SGL “dead in the water” after former world number one Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau joined several other top-ranked players in expressing their commitment to the PGA Tour.
Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, world number one Jon Rahm and No. 2 Collin Morikawa are among other high-profile golfers who have expressed their PGA Tour allegiance.
Koepka was speaking a day after six-times major champion Phil Mickelson apologised for comments he made about Saudi Arabia and the SGL.
“Yeah, I mean, I skimmed it over. I’m happy with the PGA Tour. I think everybody out here is happy,” Koepka said when asked about Mickelson’s apology.
“He can think whatever he wants to think, man. He can do whatever he wants to do. I think everybody out here is happy. I think a lot of people out here have the same opinion.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
