Brendan Steele went from ‘uninterested’ to LIV Golf in 10 weeks

Brendan Steele’s decision to leave the PGA Tour and join LIV Golf came as a surprise to the 39-year-old.

According to the Palm Springs Desert Sun, Steele had told reporters just 10 weeks prior — on a conference call for The American Express PGA Tour event — that joining the Saudi-backed golf league was “not not something that interests me”. Steele also added that at that time he had also not been approached about a possible move.

“I haven’t been approached,” Steele told reporters on that December conference call, according to the Desert Sun. “I think the way it mostly worked was guys went and got them and said they were interested… So that wasn’t really a problem for me. But I don’t blame the guys for doing it.

Steele also said, according to the Desert Sun, those who leave for LIV Golf shouldn’t expect to return to play on the PGA Tour. The tension between LIV and the PGA Tour has “divided the Tour and divided some of the best players in the world,” and Steele believed different views were emerging on how to manage — and react to — the options golfers now face.

“We play a game where he’s very fickle and you don’t have a contract until you sign with the Dodgers for five years and if you get hurt you get paid,” Steele said, according to the Desert Sun. “We don’t have any of that. So to have a bit of security going there, I think you can sort of understand the story of every guy who’s been there.

“Some people want financial security. Some are older, some are guys who are more injured. Some guys haven’t played as well but have a big name. There are all sorts of reasons why you would want to do this.

For some, that meant accepting LIV Golf’s glamorous offer and leaving the mainstream golf circuit. Steele, along with Danny Lee and Thomas Pieters, will transition ahead of the season-opening event next week at Mayakoba’s El Camaleón Golf Course – designed by LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman, according to his site. Web – in Mexico.

Steele started playing on the PGA Tour in 2011, and he won three tournaments at the 2011 Valero Texas Open, the 2016-17 Safeway Open and the 2017-18 Safeway Open. In his nine events for the 2022-23 season, Steele compiled three top-25 finishes, but he finished no higher than 18th and missed three cuts — including his last event at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Ahead of the Genesis Invitational, which enters its final round on Sunday, Steele pulled out of the event for undisclosed reasons, according to ESPN. Jon Rahm leads at under 15, with Max Homa three at the Riviera Country Club in California.