Brooks Koepka gets Ryder Cup teammates to wear LIV Golf merch

10/02/2023 Golf

Brooks Koepka gets Ryder Cup teammates Rickie Fowler, Sam Burns, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele to wear LIV Golf merch

  • Brooks Koepka was the lone LIV Golf player at the Ryder Cup in Rome this week
  • Rickie Fowler, Sam Burns, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele wore Smash shirts
  • DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news

Brooks Koepka, the lone LIV Golf player at the Ryder Cup, convinced four PGA Tour stars to wear the rebel tour’s merchandise. 

Following Team USA’s crushing 16.5-11.5 loss at Marco Simone Sunday, Koepka shared a photo of himself alongside his American teammates Rickie Fowler, Sam Burns, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele. 

Despite being on the same team this week, the quartet have remained loyal to the PGA Tour, while Koepka jumped ship to join the breakaway last year. 

But there appears to have been some reconciliation in the American camp over the weekend, as the four PGA Tour loyalists posed alongside Koepka in LIV Golf merchandise. 

They all donned blue t-shirts with the Smash GC, the team Koepka captains on the breakaway series, logo on the front. 

LIV Golf’s Brooks Koepka (center) convinced his Ryder Cup teammates Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Sam Burns and Xander Schauffele (L-R) to wear LIV Golf merchandise 

Koepka appeared to joke that he was on a recruiting drive for the breakaway in the caption 

Koepka joked that he was on a recruitment drive for his LIV team as he captioned the photo: ‘I make money moves.’

Fowler, Burns, Homa and Schauffele all reportedly turned down lucrative offers to join the rebel series. 

However, the future of the golfing world is slightly unclear following the PGA Tour’s bombshell U-turn on its stance on LIV Golf. 

A shock peace treaty was announced in June with the news of a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s backers, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. 

Schauffele admitted following the news of the ceasefire broke that he felt betrayed by the PGA Tour’s decision after he had stayed loyal. 

‘Yeah, I guess [betrayal] would be the charged word,’ Schauffele told the Sunday Times in June. ‘Irony comes to mind as well. From the messages I’ve had, everybody is taking it a bit personally, which is fair, to an extent. I was definitely left in the dark, like most guys, which is frustrating from the transparency side. I thought we were making some headway in that department, but obviously not, because there wasn’t a whole lot of trust in the first place. 

‘As tour pros, we try to rationalize situations when we compete, but some guys are feeling hot-headed, some are more confused, some are emotional. We have a really interesting group [of players] that are trying to deal with this situation.’ 

With the merger on the horizon, Koepka may be attempting to recruit his Ryder Cup teammates to his other team. 

The photo was shared just six hours after the USA failed to end its 30-year wait for an away Ryder Cup win following its 16.5-11.5 loss to Team Europe in Rome. 

The Europeans dominated the opening three sessions, racing out to a 9.5–2.5 following the Saturday morning foursomes.

The Americans reduced the deficit slightly Saturday afternoon, going 3-1, before attempting to launch a comeback in the Sunday singles, which the Europeans ultimately managed to brush off. 

Koepka was the lone LIV Golf star at Marco Simone this year as the USA suffered a loss 

Schauffele admitted following the ceasefire that he felt betrayed by the PGA Tour’s decision

As the Americans attempted to stop the bleeding, a report emerged that Patrick Cantlay was unhappy with the fact players are not paid to play in the Ryder Cup, which had caused a divide in the locker room. 

It was claimed that Cantlay was sitting in a separate area of the visitors’ locker room with close friend Schauffele amid a split in the camp, and refused to appear at the gala dinner last week, according to Sky Sports. But Cantlay denied the reports.  

Koepka’s 2022 LIV Golf defection meant he had only played with his Team USA teammates in this year’s four majors ahead of the Ryder Cup. 

‘It was exciting to see everybody,’ Koepka said. ‘I felt like had not seen the guys in a few months.’ 

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