Brooks Koepka “very excited” after ruthless LIV Golf decision pays off
Brooks Koepka rang the changes to his Smash GC team in the LIV Golf offseason - and they are already paying off.
Koepka's team struggled in 2023 and he was involved in a public fallout with Matthew Wolff after stating he had "given up" on his teammate. That led to a big trade with RangeGoats GC, exchanging Wolff for individual points list winner Talor Gooch in a ruthless move to get rid of Wolff and improve his team.
He's also added the experienced Graeme McDowell to replace brother Chase Koepka, with Jason Kokrak being retained to complete the lineup. It paid off in the second tournament of the year as the new-look team comfortably won LIV Golf Las Vegas.
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They finished -33, seven shots clear of 4Aces GC. Gooch finished just one shot behind winner Dustin Johnson in the individual standings with McDowell shooting a -5 on the final day to finish tied for fifth alongside teammate Kokrak and Paul Casey.
Discussing the immediate impact of the changes, Koepka said: "Yeah, that was the plan, to bring in two guys that have experience, that know how to win, and to be in this situation where I feel like we're competing every week.
"Last week we just didn't have a good Sunday. That happens, though. We had a chance to compete. Obviously learned something, and then to come back and G-Mac to play the way he did today was spectacular.
"Talor had a chance to win and J (Kokrak) played phenomenal. He had another chance to win right there. I love the way the team played. I love this team. I'm very excited for the future."
Koepka finished six shots back at LIV Golf Las Vegas but SmashGC comfortably won the team event (Matthew Bolt/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)A major change to LIV entering the new season comes with all four scores counting in the team competition on the final day. Previously, and on the opening two days of each event, only the three best scores on each team count towards the final standings.
Koepka says that the decision to make changes came before the format was tweaked - but he reckons it has benefited his team after his team coped well in difficult conditions.
He said: "Doing the off-season moves before the four scores counted - I thought it was great having three, but then I think it actually turned to our benefit.
"Look, we've got a lot of firepower, a lot of guys on this team that know how to win, know how to play golf. You just look at it today. Great players play well in tough conditions. That's what G-Mac did today.
"I'm beyond proud of him and these guys having a chance to win. That's all you can ask for. Basically, three guys with a chance to win on a Sunday is always a good thing."
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