The curtain is set to fall on the second LIV Golf season as some of the world’s best golfers return to Royal Greens Golf & Country Club at King Abdullah Economic City outside Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
The expanded schedule for 2023 saw the 12 teams jet around the globe to compete in the innovative shotgun-start 54-hole tournaments, with $25 million on the line each time.
The winner’s circle has certainly been a who’s who of big-name golfers this time around with the likes of Charles Howell III and Danny Lee rubbing shoulders with two-time winners Talor Gooch, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau and PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka.
Koepka’s Smash team have had a season to remember, getting on the podium in Orlando, thanks to Brooks’ stunning victory — and now the skipper, brother Chase, Jason Kokrak and latest arrival Matthew Wolff are gunning for more success as they look to defend their Jeddah crown this month in the Individual Title finale ahead of the Team showdown in Miami.
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Kokrak has been enjoying life with his ‘family’ — the Koepkas and Wolff, who replaced Peter Uihlein at the start of this season — and is eager to get back on the course in Saudi Arabia after making such fond memories last year.
The American 38-year-old signed on ahead of the third event last year at Bedminster to team up with his good friend Brooks and he got to witness Koepka’s maiden LIV Golf triumph first-hand as the captain battled it out in a playoff with teammate Uihlein in the fading light on the Red Sea coast.
“LIV is such a different product to anything else in golf right now,” Kokrak told Golf Digest Middle East. “It is definitely more exciting — it’s faster with 48 guys, and the telecast is faster too.
“In the first year we knew there were going to be growing pains, but you could see a lot of the guys were out there having fun in a relaxed atmosphere, a bit of music, and you are essentially playing golf and practising with your buddies in a super-fun atmosphere.
“Moving into season two has been pretty special as, not only has it been fun, I have seen real growth, both in terms of the broadcasting product but in the teams, the organisations, and how they are operation on a day-to-day basis.
“The tournaments too are much smoother, especially back to back. Everyone was talking about how much better London was this year than last year and they are learning year on year and event by event to grow and improve.
“It has been fun for me to look at as a veteran, knowing what goes on behind the scenes to put on a golf tournament and it is pretty great to see just how far they have come in just one year.”
Now Kokrak is ready to help his team make more history on their return to Saudi — with the bond between players growing stronger despite the line-up change.
“We had Peter Uihlein with us last year and now we have Matthew Wolff, so we have experienced some of those changes already,” he said.
“It was a smooth transition with no real issues. Peter lives down near Brooks and Chase and they see each other all the time.
“With Chase and Brooks being brothers it is an easy camaraderie because they have been together and so close for so long. Brooks and I have been friends for many years and see eye to eye, so it has been smooth sailing.
“No matter what team you are on, there will be disagreements, like any family. But ours is a little different as we have Brooks and Chase in there together.
“You certainly feel tensions between brothers at times, especially with Brooks being where he is in the world and the level of golf he has been playing for the last seven to 10 years.
“Both he and Chase had an incredible year last year, but Chase has had a bit of a slump this time. So we hope he can kinda hop out of that and have a couple of good weeks to end the season in Jeddah and Miami.”
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Kokrak is not afraid to let his captain know what he is thinking — even if it concerns five-time major champ Brooks himself.
“The kid [Koepka] is something else,” Kokrak said. “As soon as he won that major [ 2023 PGA Championship], he was right back to work, tuning up to win another one. So every once in a while I will put him back in his chair and say: ‘You enjoy this for a few minutes. It’s not all work all the time. Take some time to enjoy yourself.’ With the new baby here too, I am hoping he does that in this last month.
“I think that’s what I bring to the table for him — a good backboard to put him back in his place every once in a while.”
“Brooks is in very elite company with how many majors he has won, but he came all the way through the Challenge Tour, European Tour and then the PGA, dismantling everyone on the way. A lot of people forget that there is always that grind, that challenge to get better and strive to beat everyone each week. A few of those other major winners could learn a lot from him about that in order to win more.
Despite being the ‘elder statesman’ of the team, Kokrak is still taking things on board trying to keep up with his younger Smash mates. “I’m still learning from Brooks,” he said. “He has re-energised me as a player. I am as fit now as I have ever been at 38, and I see him as someone I look up to and that makes me want to play the best golf I can for my team captain.
“I had a little slump last year but now I am doing better. I am really looking forward to finishing off the year strong. If I play well, then that can only help the team and we want to be back up on that podium again.
“Jeddah is a tricky golf course, it normally takes me a few times around to get used to there. It is normally super windy, which can be a struggle for me, but I got a good driver in the bag now and I am putting better so I am looking forward to a strong finish.”
Kokrak cannot hide his smile as he recalls how the drama unfolded last year — even though he was just watching from the sidelines.
“It was a whirlwind,” he said. “I remember Chase and I walking back and forth on that par 5 18th as they were battling it out [Koepka eventually won on the third extra hole]. We would grab some food and a drink from the players tent then back up we would go to follow Brooks and Peter with our bottles ready to spray, not knowing if it would be on Brooks or Peter…
“It was a pretty special moment as we obviously knew we had the team win and the 1-2, but we didn’t know which way it would go. Watching those two battle it out — teammates, friends, neighbours — on that last hole was something else. Knowing how competitive Brooks is, and I know how competitive Peter is, it was fun to watch as neither was giving an inch. It really was an unforgettable experience walking to the 18th green knowing one of my teammates was gonna win and we also had the team title. I won’t forget that for a long time.”
Koepka himself was delighted with the victory.
“Honestly, to me the big thing was getting the team win,” said Koepka after his triumph, even if it ended up costing him. “I told my brother I’d buy him a Lambo if we won the team thing, so I’ve got to go by one. It’s always fun battling against your friends, and I think it’s special.
“The team aspect is pretty cool We’ve known each other for so long. That’s what you want to do, right? You want to compete with some of your very good friends, go toe-to-toe. This team thing has revived me.”
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Even as the season comes to a close, Kokrak knows there is still a lot of hard work to go and he has some unfinished business himself.
“We are entering every tournament trying to play our best to win, but going back as defending champions of that event certainly has a different side to it,” he said. “We still have to go about our business and go out there and play the best golf we can. It was fun getting up on stage for that first Smash team win and I am really looking forward to going back.
“I feel as good as I have done in a long time. I definitely want to win multiple times a year. That is a little more difficult as there are only 14 individual events. In really just wanna play my best golf to finish out my career. I have always tried to make as much money as I can — I have a six-year-old and a four-year-old and I have always wanted to retire around 43-44 years old so I can watch my kids grow up and go to all their games and whatever. So, I have a feeling I might be able to do that and look forward to that.”
However, there is a slight cloud hanging over the Smash team as Chase is in the dreaded ‘Drop Zone’ — the bottom four players will be cut from the 2024 roster and will have to compete in a playoff with the best Asian Tour players to return to the line-up.
“There is such a different vibe, a different feel, and I am trying to take it all in and enjoy this ever-changing, fluid LIV tour,” Kokrak said.
“People come, people go, people join different team and it is all a new experience to take in. You got to work hard and get results, but sometimes you got to sit back, look around and enjoy yourself a little bit.
“To be in that bottom four like Chase, I haven’t really considered it. But in all honesty, in my rookie year on the PGA Tour I remember having four events left and I was going to lose my card. I needed to make something happen and do something special and I finished T2 and top 15 to keep my card. I always strive to play my best golf when I am backed into a corner. These guys have nowhere to go but up and it has been a long, hard year for them. I definitely feel for them because it is a tough game and golf has never given anything to anybody.
“It’s not like the end of the world if they do get cut as they have other tours and places to play in order to try to get back in and I think they should take it as an experience and know how much fun and how competitive this tour can be strive to get back. There is a pathway back — you just got to play good golf!
“Having a teammate in the bottom four right now, I definitely keep a closer eye on his scores than I normally do, more than I did last year when he was playing really solid golf. He’s just got into a little bit of a slump and I hope he will get a good kick in this last event to get safe. I feel for him but you got to go out there and dig it out of the dirt and make it happen.”
Brooks also had some words of encouragement for his brother. “I told him, I’ve been through that stretch where you’re not playing well,” he said. “He’s working hard, I’ll give him that. That’s why I haven’t gotten on him. I’m proud of him. He’s gutted through this thing, and eventually it’s going to turn right side up, and that’s what I just keep telling him. I’ve been in those shoes two years ago. It will come around.”
Main image: Chris Trotman/LIV Golf via Getty Images
