Koepka out of Travelers after news of LIV move

Golf

Brooks Koepka has withdrawn from this week’s Travelers Championship, the PGA Tour announced Tuesday night.

The four-time major champion is joining the LIV Golf Invitational Series, sources confirmed to ESPN earlier Tuesday.

Koepka, 32, is one of the highest-profile players to join the breakaway circuit, which is being funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and is fronted by two-time Open winner Greg Norman.

LIV Golf is expected to announce the addition of Koepka in the coming days, sources confirmed. Koepka, who is ranked 19th in the Official World Golf Ranking, is expected to compete in the first LIV Golf event in the United States, at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, Oregon, starting June 30.

Koepka’s pending departure from the PGA Tour was first reported Tuesday by the Telegraph of London.

LIV Golf has now signed eight of the top 50 players in the world; Bryson DeChambeau (ranked 30th) and Patrick Reed (38th) are expected to compete in the event in Portland as well.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan suspended 17 players, including two-time major winner Dustin Johnson and six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, for competing in LIV Golf’s inaugural event outside London two weeks ago. Monahan had said that tour players who competed in future LIV Golf tournaments without a conflicting-event release would face similar punishment.

Mark Hubbard will take Koepka’s place in the field for the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.

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