In the near future a big golf tournament will break out in Los Angeles. Until that point is reached, one of the most dangerous protagonists of this US Open is only too happy for the political rows of his sport to keep on raging.
That would be Brooks Koepka, the rejuvenated beast of the majors and a figure who has positively relished the dishevelment caused to his rivals by last week’s merger of enemies. As he phrased it on Tuesday: ‘I enjoy the chaos.’
And chaos it is. Such has been the frenzy surrounding the pact between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s money tree, Rory McIlroy took the step of cancelling his press conference here. If that constituted the sensible relinquishing of his role at the vanguard, then Jon Rahm proved to be no less punchy when he stepped up.
In breaking his silence on the thorniest of issues, the Masters champion added his weighty voice to the masses of disgruntled PGA Tour pros. His key word? Betrayal.
Rahm has long been conspicuous for his refusal to criticise LIV, and indeed remains key among their targets, assuming they even have a future, but the world No 2 was powerful in his critique of his own circuit.
Brooks Koepka says he is relishing the ‘chaos’ that is building in men’s golf following the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s bombshell announcement last week
Koepka (right) has already won at the PGA Championship this year and will be looking to achieve his sixth Major title this week and his 10th PGA Tour win at the US Open
Jon Rahm claimed that some people ‘feel a bit betrayed’ following the bombshell merger
He was among the many blindsided by the suddenness of the PGA Tour’s announcement of a U-turn last Tuesday and did not hide some of his distaste for the situation, saying: ‘There’s a lot of not-answered questions and it’s tough when it’s the week before a major.
‘I think it gets to a point where you want to have faith in management, and I want to have faith that this is the best thing for all of us, but it’s clear that’s not the consensus. I think the general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management.
‘I understand why they had to keep it so secret – we couldn’t make it through a meeting for more than 10 minutes before people spilled the beans (in the media). It’s just not easy as a player that’s been involved, like many others, to wake up one day and see this bombshell.
‘That’s why we’re all in a bit of a state of limbo because we don’t know what’s going on and how much is finalised and how much they can talk about, either. It’s a state of uncertainty that we don’t love, but I’m not a business expert. There’s still too many questions to be answered.
‘I think like everybody we just want to know what the future looks like.’
For now, that uncertainty extends to just about every aspect of this merger, with the lack of clarity including the question of where LIV events might fit in a unified schedule and the issue of compensation for those who, like Rahm, were encouraged to stick with the PGA Tour. As recently as this week, the US senate introduced a fresh complication with an investigation into the partnership, so there is a distinct paucity of solid ground.
All of which has crept with varying degrees of success into the minds of the game’s elite ahead of the season’s third major. Rahm, if he has been able to compartmentalise his frustrations, will be among the frontrunners, and there is also some promise in the gradual reawakening of McIlroy since his missed cut at the Masters.
Rahm said there was much confusion over what was going on saying players were ‘in a state of limbo’
He played a practice round yesterday with his compatriot Sergio Garcia (left) who currently plays on the LIV Golf Tour
Koepka (right) was pictured playing a practice round today with Dustin Johnson (middle) and Gary Woodland (left)
A win this week would see Koepka lift his third US Open trophy, after he won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, before winning the PGA Championship in 2018 and again in 2019
The latter has previously spoken of the draining nature of the LIV debate, which underlines the competitive opportunity spied by Koepka as he has watched it play out.
Ever the dead-eyed hunter, the winner of last month’s US PGA Championship said: ‘The more chaotic things get the easier it gets for me. Everything starts to slow down and I am able to focus on whatever I need to focus on while everybody else is dealing with distractions, worried about other things. I enjoy the chaos.’
With five majors to his name, and a smoking hot trail behind him this season, Koepka is arguably the one player in this field who needs no added advantage.