As more and more golfers jump ship for the Saudi-backed LIV Tour, Jason Kokrak may have followed suit in bizarre fashion.
Kokrak started off the ninth hole on Friday at TPC River Highlands, his last of the day, with a 327-yard drive that found the rough. Four over on the day and one over for the event, the No. 33-ranked golfer in the world had already seen his chances of making the cut disappear after double bogeying the previous hole.
Kokrak, with 43 yards left to the hole, sent his shot sailing over the green and the road behind it. ShotLink recorded it as “87 yards into the unknown.”
Kokrak would have to take a drop and a penalty in order to finish the hole. The golfer had seen enough and packed his bag and left the event. He was subsequently disqualified for failing to finish the hole and to hand in a signed scorecard.
After the fiasco, some are now speculating that he drove right off to join the LIV Tour.
The LIV Tour still has three spots open for their second event in Portland at Pumpkin Ridge.
Kokrak is sponsored by Golf Saudi and played in the Saudi International in February. Those connections have made him a rumored LIV candidate since the tour’s inception last month. Kokrak even admitted during LIV’s infancy that he was in talks with them and wanted “to make as much money as I can in as little time.”
Kokrak has won three titles and earned over $20 million in earnings in his 10-year PGA Tour career. If he joins LIV, he would get an indefinite suspension from the PGA.
William McGirt, who played in Kokrak’s group on Friday, told Action Network they didn’t know the ball had gone out of bounds and with the group behind them already waiting on the fairway, Kokrak decided to cut his losses and go home.
Sobel added that the exit “wasn’t some walk-off from PGA Tour life.” Kokrak has until June 30 to sign on with LIV for their Portland event. If not, perhaps fans will see him at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, starting the same day.