Will Brooks Koepka Leave LIV?
Plus: Hero World Challenge, Australian Open, and More.
Josey Orr
December 08, 2025
Good Afternoon. LIV Golf made its CEO, Scott O’Neil, available to the media last week. While speaking to reporters, he provided an account of LIV’s accomplishments, disappointments, and failures as they head into their fifth year of operation. They’ve seen growth in attendance, signed a deal with Fox (although rumors suggest it’s not very lucrative), and announced partnership deals with Salesforce, HSBC, Qualcomm, Reebok, Porsche, Callaway, Ping, and others.
The leagues biggest issues are threefold:
LIV must find a way to get OWGR points, so they are changing this year from 54 holes to 72 and they’ve updated pathways to enter the league.
The DP World Tour is still fining their players, like Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. This issue remains unresolved, but the latest rumors state it will be figured out by April. Eddie Pepperel suggested it’s not going to go the way LIV wants it to go.
LIV has already invested $5 billion dollars into the league and while they’ve made progress - thats a large hole to dig themselves out of.
Of course, they also have another issue coming up - retaining their top talent as their initial contracts expire. They’ll have to renegotiate with Bryson and Brooks, who are only signed through 2026, and there are whispers that Brooks Koepka no longer wants to be there.
School of Golf: 3 Drills to Create Lag in Golf Swing
We went into the archives (from 8 years ago) to find this one. Martin Hall and Blair O'Neal discuss three drills to create more lag in a golf swing.
More Swing Tips:
Paddy Rips Dan Rappaport For Talking To His Ball
Don’t talk to the man’s golf ball - is that clear?
More Social Posts:
😂 The Putt To Win The Scramble (Instagram)
😂 When Your Buddy Has One Putt For His Best Career Round (Instagram)
Quick Recap: Hero World Challenge & Australian Open
Hideki Matsuyama Wins Hero World Challenge
Hideki Matsuyama kicked this year off with a win at Kapalua and ended it with a win in the Bahamas. The guy thrives on island time.
Back in January, he set a PGA Tour record to par (-35) while winning The Sentry. Unfortunately, the rest of the year he didn’t finish inside the Top 10 even once, but he did remind everyone yesterday just how good he can be when he’s on.
Matsuyama holed out for eagle on the 10th hole, grabbed a share of the lead, and never gave it back.
Alex Noren made a long range birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, but on the very first hole of extra golf, Hideki stuffed his nine iron to within three feet and ended it.
Final Leaderboard: Hideki Matsuyama (-22), Alex Norén (-22), Sepp Straka (-21), J. J. Spaun (-20), Scottie Scheffler (-20), Justin Rose (-18), Corey Conners (-17), Harris English (-15), Wyndham Clark (-15), Cameron Young (-14)
Cam Smith Fails To Hang On At Australian Open
Much to the chagrin of the Australian fans at Royal Melbourne, Cam Smith came up short to Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen on the final hole.
Cam Smith had finally put himself in position to win after a terrible year and he’s known for being a phenomenal putter. So, when he made green in regulation on the 72nd hole, fans were confident he’d easily two-putt for par at worst.
Unfortunately, he three-jacked it and made bogey from the distance pictured above.
Rasmus made an all-world up & down to save par and win the Australian Open.
If you missed it, you can watch the up & down here.
What’s Next?
The Grant Thornton Invitational is this upcoming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Naples, Florida. If you don’t recall, this is the mixed team event featuring both LPGA and PGA Stars. Here are the 16 teams competing.
With Nikon Golf
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Deal Of The Day: Walter Hagen Q Zip 37% OFF
If you didn’t know, Q Zips are all the rage right now, even outside of the golf world.
Im not kidding, either, both Vogue and the NYT have had articles out in the last week about how the biggest fashion trend among young men is the quarter-zip.
Anyway, this Walter Hagen Q Zip is for sale on Golf Galaxy. You can be trendy at an affordable price!
That’s A Wrap…
Before you go: just a few questions for ya.
Want More Golf Perks?
Want To Hit The Ball Further?
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Until next week,
Caddyshanks team.
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