Brooks Koepka: American four-time major winner set to quit PGA Tour and join LIV Golf series

Brooks Koepka: American four-time major winner set to quit PGA Tour and join LIV Golf series
_125558204_brookskoepka_getty-2.jpgBrooks Koepka won back-to-back US Opens in 2017 and 2018 and won consecutive PGA Championship titles in 2018 and 2019

American Brooks Koepka is set to quit the PGA Tour and join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.

The four-time major winner, 32, is expected to play in the second 54-hole, 48-man tournament which runs from 30 June to 2 July in Portland, Oregon.

He will join compatriots Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau in the controversial $250m (£200m) series.

The PGA Tour suspended 17 members who teed off in the inaugural LIV event.

Speaking at this month's US Open, where he finished 55th with a score of 12 over, Koepka complained that questions over the LIV event were throwing a "black cloud" over the PGA-recognised tournament.

The former world number one claimed the US Open in 2017 and 2018 and is also a two-time US PGA Championship winner, taking victory in 2018 and 2019.

However, Koepka has been hampered by injuries in recent years and is currently ranked 19th in the world.

His brother Chase is already signed up to the LIV series and played in the opening tournament at Centurion Club in London, which had a £20m prize fund and was won by South Africa's Charl Schwartzel.

The PGA Tour refused to allow requests for waivers to play in the first LIV Golf event, which is being funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman believes the series, which does not currently carry any ranking points, has a "compelling" case to be allowed to award world ranking points in the future.

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