Koepka’s brother among four players relegated from LIV

Brooks Koepka was bankrolled $8 million on Sunday for winning LIV Jeddah in a playoff and finishing third in the season-long points race.

It wasn’t a good day, however, for Koepka’s younger brother.

Chase Koepka not only finished last among the 48-player field, but he ended up No. 48 in points, a position that will see him relegated out of the league along with Jed Morgan, James Piot and Sihwan Kim. The younger Koepka posted just one top-25 finish in 13 starts this season, accruing one point.

“I know he’s working hard,” Brooks Koepka said Saturday. “I know he’s been trying. We’ve been practicing together quite a bit. Honestly, he’s struggling a little bit. I’ve been there. We’ve all been there. Every golfer has. It’s part of it. You look at it, he was playing mini-tour golf 16 months ago. I don’t think the last year and a half has been too bad for him.”

Matt Wolff, Pat Perez, Charl Schwartzel and Graeme McDowell were among the players who finished in LIV’s Open Zone (Nos. 25-44) and face potential trade or release by their teams. LIV said earlier this year that it expected four to eight players from this group to not have a team for 2024.

Andy Ogletree has a commanding lead in the Asian Tour’s International Series Order of Merit with three events left. The money winner earns a spot on LIV in 2024, as do the top three players from LIV’s 72-hole qualifying event set for next month.

Ogletree made three starts on LIV this season, highlighted by a sixth-place finish at the Washington D.C. event.