Brooks Koepka warms up for Augusta Masters with Orlando title

Four-time Major titleist Brooks Koepka heads for the Masters at Augusta National this week is a good space with the individual title at last week’s LIV Golf Orlando at Florida’s Winter Garden safely tucked away.

In doing so, Koepka pocketed a cool $4.75 million, four million dollars for his outright win and another $750,000 as his share of second-place prize money as captain of Smash GC, who finished one shot behind team titleists Torque GC.

The team win was worth $3 million for the Spanish-speaking Torque’s four members, Sebastian Munoz, Joaquin Niemann (captain), Mito Pereira and LIV free agent David Puig. Munoz, who was second behind Koepka in the individual event, added a further $2.125 million to his wallet at Orange County National.

Both races were decided by a single shot, Koepka on 15-under was one better than Munoz (-14), while Torque (-36 overall) held the same eventual advantage over Smash GC.

It was incidentally, Koepka’s first top-tier professional win in his home state of Florida and made him the first two-time winner in LIV Golf after his victory at the -season finale last year in Jeddah.

“I’ve been playing good for a few weeks,” Koepka told the LIV Golf website after a final-round three-under 68. “It just hasn’t really shown on the scorecard, making dumb mistakes. It was nice to come out this week and play mistake-free pretty much.

“I’m very happy to get the win. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the team win, which kind of is a little bittersweet. But look, I’m happy the way I’m playing going into Augusta.”

Added Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann, “It’s pretty awesome. The chemistry between the four of us is pretty good since day one. All the practice rounds, the games we do, it’s pretty easy for the four of us to hang out together. I think we knew we could win since the first week. It just came a little bit later than we thought, actually.”

Koepka will be joined at Augusta National – who broke away from PGA Tour pressure to ostracize all members of the LIV Golf League – by 17 others from the Saudi Arabia-funded circuit. Nine past Masters titles reside with the LIV Golf stable.

The 17 who with Koepka will be at Augusta this week are Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Peirera, Niemann, Abe Ancer, Thomas Pieters, Harold Varner III, Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na, and Louis Oosthuizen.

Of them, Mickelson has won the Green Jacket thrice, in 2004, 2006 and 2010, Schwartzel in 2011, Bubba Watson in 2012 and 2014, Garcia in 2017, Patrick Reed in 2018 and Dustin Johnson in 2020.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods made an understated arrival at Augusta National Golf Club for his 25th appearance at the Masters, giving the year’s first major a massive fillip.

The 15-time major winner has had a rocky time with injuries and a major accident in the past few years but with five past Masters titles in his tally, Woods is a perennial favourite at the Georgia course.

In all the Masters will have a limited field of 88 for its 2023 edition that tees off on Thursday.

Final LIV team scores in Florida

Torque GC: Sebastián Muñoz 66, David Puig 67, Mito Pereira 68 (Rd. 3 score: -12, -36 overall)

Smash GC: Matthew Wolff 67, Brooks Koepka 68, Jason Kokrak 69 (Rd. 3 score: -9, -35 overall)

4 Aces GC: Peter Uihlein 65, Dustin Johnson 66, Patrick Reed 67 (Rd. 3 score: -15, -34 overall)

Stinger GC: Dean Burmester 64, Branden Grace 70, Charl Schwartzel 70 (Rd. 3 score: -9, -26 overall)

Cleeks GC: Bernd Wiesberger 68, Richard Bland 70, Graeme McDowell 71 (Rd. 3 score: -4, -25 overall)

Majesticks GC: Henrik Stenson 66, Sam Horsfield 68, Lee Westwood 69 (Rd. 3 score: -4, -25 overall)

Fireballs GC: Carlos Ortiz 65, Eugenio Chacarra 66, Sergio Garcia 68 (Rd. 3 score: -14, -23 overall)

Rangegoats GC: Thomas Pieters 67, Talor Gooch 68, Harold Varner III 68 (Rd. 3 score: -10, -21 overall)

HyFlyers GC: Phil Mickelson 67, Brendan Steele 67, Cameron Tringale 69 (Rd. 3 score: -10, -21 overall)

Crushers GC: Bryson DeChambeau 67, Charles Howell III 67, Paul Casey 71 (Rd. 3 score: -8, -19 overall)

Iron Heads GC: Kevin Na 69, Scott Vincent 70, Danny Lee 74 (Rd. 3 score: E, -16 overall)

Ripper GC: Jediah Morgan 67, Marc Leishman 68, Cameron Smith 71 (Rd. 3 score: -7, -15 overall)