Brooks Koepka Talks Joining LIV Golf After Pledging Allegiance To PGA Tour: 'My Opinion Changed'

Brooks Koepka's decision to join the LIV Golf Invitational Series was perplexing to many, given his stance on the upstart league the week prior at the U.S. Open.

After dodging questions and claiming the media was putting a "black cloud" over the Major, Koepka became the latest to defect from the PGA Tour for big money last week. Set to make his LIV Golf debut this Thursday at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Oregon, Koepka spoke candidly Tuesday about why he changed his mind and decided to join.

"Just my opinion, man," Koepka said, via ESPN. "My opinion changed. That was it. You guys will never believe me, but we didn't have the conversation 'til everything was done at the U.S. Open and figured it out and just said I was going to go one way or another. Here I am."

Koepka, 32, has struggled to find his form over the past year, recovering from knee, hip and wrist injuries. The four-time Major champion has won just one PGA Tour event since 2019 -- the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February 2021. Koepka has slipped to No. 19 in the Official World Golf Ranking, after sitting atop the ranking for 47 weeks.

"What I've had to go through the last two years on my knees, the pain, the rehab, all this stuff, you realize, you know, I need a little bit more time off," Koepka said. "I'll be the first one to say it: It's not been an easy last couple of years, and I think having a little more breaks, a little more time at home to make sure I'm 100 percent before I go play in an event and don't feel like I'm forced to play right away ."

Koepka added that he isn't concerned with the criticism of joining the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit. Saudi Arabia has a history of human rights violations, having been accused of torturing, kidnapping and murdering women by human rights organizations.

"You know, we've heard it," Koepka said. "I think everybody has. It's been brought up. But, look, like we said, our only job is to go play golf, and that's all we're trying to do. We're trying to grow the game, do all this other stuff. And we're trying the best we can."

Such criticism has come from PGA Tour players such as Rory McIlroy, who has been the most outspoken player against LIV Golf. After news broke that Koepka would be leaving the tour, McIlroy called out Koepka for saying one thing and doing another.

RORY MCILROY RIPS BROOKS KOEPKA FOR JOINING LIV GOLF

“But am I surprised? Yes, because of what he said previously,” McIlroy said last week at the Travelers Championship. “I think that’s why I’m surprised at a lot of these guys — because they say one thing and then they do another … I don’t understand that, and I don’t know if that’s for legal reasons or if they can’t — I have no idea. But it’s pretty duplicitous on their part to say one thing and then do another thing.”