As Brooks Koepka Leaves Jeddah With $8M in Exploits, Does His Relegated Brother Have a Shot at Redemption?

While Brooks Koepka boarded the return flight $8M richer, his brother left the King Abdullah Economic City with empty pockets and the sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Chase Koepka, along with five other golfers, squandered their chances at an automatic qualifier on a day that saw multiple upward movements on the leaderboard. 

Meanwhile, the elder of the Koepka brothers netted his second title win this season, coming to the Lock Zone superseding Bryson DeChambeau in the third spot. At the top of the leaderboard, Cameron Smith threw away his chances to bag the $18M prize to Talor Gooch, whose blistering display at Jeddah saw him garner a whopping 192 points. But for the six players at the bottom of the pile, the looming question is, is their 2024 season on the brink of jeopardy?

Will LIV Golf give the relegated golfers another chance?

LIV Golf brought a change in rules ahead of the Jeddah event. Earlier it was just the bottom four who were to be relegated to the Asian Tour. However, since Andy Ogletree and Laurie Canter played at reserves, instead of the bottom four, it’d be every player from 45 to 50 whose head would be on the chopping board.

After Sunday, Ripper GC’s Jediah Morgan, HyFlyers GC’s James Piot, Smash GC’s Chase Koepka, Iron Heads GC’s Sihwan Kim along with Lee Westwood of Majesticks GC, and Martin Kaymer of Cleeks GC remained at the bottom six. However, the latter two, being the captains of their LIV teams, narrowly dodged the edge of the sword, despite holding the 45th & 50th spot, respectively. As for the other four, it’s an uphill battle ahead.

According to LIV Golf’s rule, the relegated players will have a shot at a revival at the Promotions tournament later this year. Greg Norman, the man in charge of the LIV, revealed that the Q-School (Qualifying School) will be played in either November or early December.

The promotions tournament was devised as a way to draw in top players across the globe to the PIF-backed league. This will also give three of the four relegated players an opportunity to move into the top-circuit once again.

Read More: Does Chase Koepka Have a Girlfriend? All You Need to Know about the Former Smash GC Member’s Love Life

How does the promotions tournament work?

As per LIV Golf officials, the qualifying tournament tees off with an 18-hole Round and will seed players from the Asian Tour’s International Series rankings. Champions of the U.S. and British Amateur; players from the top 200 on the OWGR; and some golfers from the top 20 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings will also join. However, with LIV’s rift with OWGR coming into the equation, it remains to be seen if that changes anything.

Regardless, the deal remains the same for the four golfers. They have to wrangle with the newcomers to find their spot on the top once again and only three of them might emerge triumphant.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to embrace the suck.” Chase Koepka confessed before the Jeddah event. The junior Koepka brother has to walk the talk now.

Watch this story–Brooks Koepka receives a shout-out from the great white shark at the 25,000,000 event