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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Joshua Lees

Brooks Koepka paves Ryder Cup path for US LIV Golf rebels after PGA Championship win

When joining LIV Golf last summer, players making the controversial move were issued a long list of career consequences that could well be coming their way.

Firstly was losing the chance to play PGA Tour golf again, having had their memberships suspended by commissioner Jay Monahan. The second was never being able to return to the Ryder Cup arena, but these were risks the rebels were willing to make.

In the case of the Europeans, their Ryder Cup bed has for the most part already been laid after four of their greatest stars in Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, and Henrik Stenson announced their resignation from the DP World Tour, ending their Team Europe careers as both players and future captains.

For the Americans though all hope is not lost yet. Tensions within professional golf have reached new levels over the past 12 months, and with the continual slamming of the LIV setup, the chances of US captain Zach Johnson naming any of the rebels among his six captain picks initially looked slim to none.

The other half of the US team is then made up of automatic qualifiers, who earn points at the four major championships and across PGA Tour events. With LIV players no longer competing on the PGA Tour it seemed all hope was lost in any attempt to earn more points than their Tour rivals looking all but impossible.

Not for Brooks Koepka though. Koepka secured his fifth major title and third PGA Championship at Oak Hill on Sunday after seeing off Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler, once again silencing LIV's critics. Much had been said about the rebels' slim chances heading into last month's opening major, but at the Masters in April and in Rochester over the weekend Koepka and co looked to squash that idea.

Brooks Koepka secured the PGA Championship on Sunday (Getty Images)

At Augusta Koepka held the 54-hole lead before going on to finish in a tie for second alongside fellow LIV man Mickelson, as the returning rebels made a real statement. At the USPGA Koepka then went one better, proving that the Saudi-funded series is not a mega-money retirement circuit, but one that can stand level with their PGA and DP World Tour rivals.

As well as earning a fifth major trophy, a £2.5 million cheque, and validation for LIV Golf there could also be an added bonus for Koepka. His win has propelled him into second in the US Ryder Cup rankings, something that was unimaginable just months prior.

Do you think Koepka should play at this year's Ryder Cup? Let us know in the comments section below.

Zach Johnson is the man in charge of the American Ryder Cup team (PA)

There is of course a long way to go before qualification closes, and the likelihood is that the 33-year-old will slip out of the top three spots come September. Even if this is the case though, a tied-second finish at the Masters, a US PGA victory, and two majors still to play for makes Koepka hard not to pick for captain Johnson.

And if the American does prove to be one of the selected six, it could well open the door to other members of the LIV cohort too. The likes of Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau - who were a part of Team USA's record-breaking Ryder Cup victory alongside Koepka in 2021 - are both LIV members and will be keen to follow in the footsteps of the USPGA champion.

Both Johnson and DeChambeau are yet to show the form that Koepka has across this year's two majors, but with another two to play an impressive run of form could well prove hard to ignore for their captain, who is set to have a big decision on his hands come September.

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