7 LIV golfers including Brooks Koepka who went back on word to join Saudi series

22 February 2023 , 18:00

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Greg Norman has poached a host of big names for his LIV Golf series (Image: Getty Images)

The LIV Golf rebellion that rocked the professional men's game to its core last year is back for its second season - still facing as many questions as it has answers.

Greg Norman 's contentious Saudi-backed breakaway series begins its second instalment in Mayakoba, Mexico on Friday. Big name rebels poached in the disruptive opening year, including Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau, will headline the 54-hole £20.7million invitational at the Playa del Carmen.

But the second season will begin under a backdrop of uncertainty over its competitive integrity, legal disputes and long-term financial sustainability. A lack of big name signings before the new season has caused the momentum of the insurgent LIV train to halt, but several players have still jumped ship ahead of an expanded mega-money 14-tournament calendar.

Here, Mirror Sport looks at seven LIV rebels who went back on their word to join the breakaway circuit...

Brooks Koepka

Koepka said "opinions change" after his LIV U-turn (WME IMG via Getty Images)

Koepka remarkably accused reporters of casting a "black cloud" over last year's US Open at Brookline with pertinent LIV questions in a now infamous spiky press conference. The four-time major champion was a staunch defender of the PGA Tour but said back in February that "somebody will sell out and go to it" and join LIV.

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It transpires that Koepka was indeed that man, with his typically blunt explanation that "opinions change", as he cited his knee injury problems and wanting to spend more time with his family as the primary reasons for appearing to surrender his competitive relevance with his LIV move.

Bryson DeChambeau

DeChambeau has plummeted down the rankings since joining LIV (Getty Images)

Koepka's former rival DeChambeau appeared to end speculation that he would join LIV in February last year, but his words didn't age well as his signing was confirmed during the tour's inaugural event at the Centurion Club four months later.

"While there has been a lot of speculation surrounding my support for another tour, I want to make it very clear that as long as the best players in the world are playing the PGA Tour, so will I," DeChambeau had stated.

Thomas Pieters

Pieters is the latest big name to join LIV (Getty Images)

Pieters - the world no.34 and former European Ryder Cup star - represents the most high-profile LIV recruit ahead of the 2023 season and his defection is a significant blow for new captain Luke Donald before September's showdown in Rome.

A long-term LIV target, The Telegraph claimed that Pieters had indicated to DP World Tour chiefs that he would not be joining the venture as he planned to continue playing on the European-based circuit, where he has won on six occasions.

However, he has now been confirmed as LIV's latest signing and will tee it up at the shotgun start in Mexico on Friday.

Paul Casey

Casey is a former UNICEF ambassador (SNS Group)

Englishman Casey hardly covered himself in glory when he inadvertently declared himself a hypocrite as he joined LIV. Casey, a former UNICEF ambassador, had vowed in 2019 never to play in the Kingdom now funding the rebel series in 2019.

“Signing a deal and being paid to be down there, I would be a hypocrite if I did that," he said. "Anyone who says sport isn’t political, that’s rubbish. I’m glad I took a stance, more so if it highlighted the issues within the region.”

Upon going back on his word and taking the LIV millions, Casey justified his U-turn by claiming he had seen improvements in the Gulf State.

He said: "I can honestly look you in the eye and say that I see a trajectory, a positive trajectory in the kingdom, and it was a really good experience that I've had when I've been there, and I hope it continues."

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Dustin Johnson

Johnson banked over £30m in prize money in LIV's inaugural season (Getty Images)

Dustin Johnson was the biggest beneficiary of the LIV Golf start-up as he raked in an outrageous £30.7m from just eight events through strong individual and team performances in 2022.

But fans would have been forgiven for thinking the former Masters champion would have remained loyal to the PGA Tour, when he said as much before his LIV defection.

"I feel it is now time to put such speculation to rest. I am fully committed to the PGA Tour," he declared in a statement in February. "I am grateful for the opportunity to play on the best tour in the world and for all it has provided me and my family."

Henrik Stenson

Stenson gave up the Ryder Cup captaincy to join LIV (Getty Images)

Henrik Stenson's defection to LIV left plenty of European golf fans feeling betrayed as he ditched one of the greatest honours in golf. 2021 losing skipper Padraig Harrington accused Stenson of doing "what he said he wouldn't do" in joining LIV as he was stripped of the privilege of captaining Europe at the Marco Simone course this autumn.

Stenson blindly sought to keep the captaincy when joining LIV in July but it was clear that he had already forsaken that chance. Cynics would suggest LIV's aggressive pursuit of Stenson was to wreck havoc on golf's status quo as much as adding another high-calibre player to its growing roster.

Joaquin Niemann

Niemann leads a wealth of Latin American talent on the LIV breakaway tour (Getty Images)

"I'm not going anywhere, no chance," Joaquin Niemann unequivocally claimed last June. But as early as August, the talented Chilean was competing in a LIV Boston play-off alongside Johnson and Abraham Ancer.

LIV's chief firebrand Norman now boasts a monopoly of the Latin American talent in men's golf after Chile's Mito Pereira and Colombia's Sebastian Munoz joined Niemann and Mexican stars Ancer and Carlos Ortiz for the 2023 season.

Ben Parsons