Koepka explains why he joined LIV: 'I signed for the dough'

Five-time major championship winner Brooks Koekpa explained his decision to join LIV Golf back in June 2022.

"Look, I'll be honest with you, I signed for the dough," Koepka said on the BS w/ Jake Paul podcast. "I'm 100% behind that. I don't know, tomorrow I could go get in a car accident and never play golf again but my family is taken care of. That was a big thing for me."

Koepka added that his signing bonus to join the Saudi-funded league was at least $100 million.

"It was good, it was good. It was nine (figures)," Koepka said. "It was pretty good. I was very happy."

One of the most prominent names on the rival tour, Koepka has been a force. His three wins on LIV are tied with Cameron Smith for the most.

Koepka was in a rut when he decided to join LIV. He was coming off a knee injury and hadn't won on the PGA TOUR in over a year. Since winning the St. Jude Invitational in July 2019, Koepka's only victory before joining LIV came at the Phoenix Open in February 2021.

He admitted in April that it would've been a tougher choice to defect for LIV had he been healthy at the time of his decision.

"Honestly, yeah, probably," Koepka said. "If I'm being completely honest. I think it would have been."

Koepka returned to his elite form this past season, winning the PGA Championship for the third time in May 2023 and being the only LIV player to earn a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. He also won LIV's most recent tournament last week in Saudi Arabia.

The PGA TOUR agreed to merge with the owners of LIV Golf - the Saudi Public Investment Fund - back in June. The full details of the arrangement are still unclear, though.

"You divided some of the best players in the world, and now they're trying to bring them all back together," Koepka said. "I know as much about it as anybody else. It's a merger. That's all I know. There's going to be a NewCo where hopefully all the best players in the world can get back together, everybody can see them in one week, one event, instead of it being so fractured."