It was no surprise in the wake of Brooks Koepka’s decision to leave LIV Golf that many began to predict the imminent death of the league.

Landing Brooks Koepka was a massive coup for LIV Golf. By 2022, he was a four-time major champion. He was also one of a number of players who had previously pledged his allegiance to the PGA Tour.

Is Patrick Reed leaving the end of LIV Golf?

First Brooks, now Reed…who will be next?

And LIV probably would have loved nothing more than to make Koepka their poster boy after he won the 2023 PGA Championship.

However, there was a sense of inevitability about Koepka becoming the first big name to leave LIV in the hope of returning to the PGA Tour.

LIV could argue Brooks Koepka was always likely to be the first big name to leave

Koepka was the first player to publicly question LIV, admitting ahead of the 2025 season that the league was behind where it should be. Meanwhile, it was striking that he did not wear the same clothing as his Smash GC teammates.

Koepka was, of course, the captain of the team.

His form on the course was nothing to write home about. He registered just two top 10s, while he missed the cut at three of the four majors.

There was always going to come a time when a big name decided to leave LIV for the PGA Tour. What LIV was initially offering was so different that there was next to no chance of every single player being entirely happy with their decision to jump.

Immediately after Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour was announced, the spotlight turned to Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. Along with Cameron Smith, they were the players who were presented with a pathway back by those at Ponte Vedra.

There is no question that Koepka’s departure dealt a huge blow to LIV. Their momentum had stalled some time ago. And this news appeared to confirm that their hopes of rivalling the PGA Tour were over.

But perhaps there is an argument to be made that Patrick Reed‘s decision to leave on Wednesday is even more damaging than Koepka’s.

Patrick Reed dealt LIV Golf with a hammer blow on the eve of the new season

While Reed is a major champion, Koepka is already one of the most successful golfers of all-time. He has won four of his five majors since Reed clinched the 2018 Masters.

However, Reed’s departure perhaps says more about the direction LIV is going in.

While it was only Koepka who had left, LIV could argue that he was an outlier. Koepka has always seemed something of an anomaly during his career, so it was easy for LIV to suggest that he was prepared to go against the grain to begin a new chapter.

Reed’s decision confirms that Koepka was not the only player who was not entirely happy.

Having just won the Dubai Desert Classic and not signed a contract with LIV for 2026, the 35-year-old had all of the leverage in the world.

Reed could have demanded another eye-watering sum. And given that the first event of the new LIV season is less than a week away, the league would have surely agreed to his terms to avoid the embarrassment of scrambling for a replacement.

Koepka has definitely made concessions to return. Koepka paid $30 million to leave LIV, while he has faced several penalties from the PGA Tour.

But Reed was prepared to leave despite not having the same pathway back. He will spend most of the year playing on the DP World Tour before returning Stateside in 2027.

He may not have made the same decision had he not known whether a PGA Tour return would be possible. But it still does not look good for LIV at all.

Reed could not justify ignoring the pathway back to the PGA Tour

On the course right now, losing Reed is definitely a much bigger setback than Koepka’s exit. The Texan won on LIV as recently as June last year. He also finished third at The Masters in 2025.

Reed is 29th in the world rankings, which does LIV no favours should they finally be awarded points for their events.

Reed was asked by Bunkered in January 2025 about whether he would want to return to the PGA Tour. His first two words were: ‘It depends’.

Speaking to the same publication in November, Reed said he would ‘love’ to sign a new contract with LIV.

This is not a player who could be accused of never fully buying into LIV. Reed seemed to embrace the league and was clearly ready to commit his future to it. But that pathway out is clearly proving too tempting for some to ignore.

LIV being so secretive about contracts has its advantage for the league. But many have often wondered just how genuine the players are when they heap gushing praise on the tour.

At times, it really felt like a propaganda campaign to try and make the public forget about just how much money was needed to lure these players away from the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

Reed’s decision has probably come too late to spark a mass exodus. However, it is going to be fascinating to see what LIV looks like in 12 months.

The league is unlikely to go anywhere. But its days as a serious rival for the PGA Tour are almost certainly well and truly over.