CROMWELL, Conn. — Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas will not play at this year’s Travelers Championship, but for very different reasons.
Koepka, who is expected to be the latest PGA Tour play to sign on with the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Series, withdrew from the tournament late Tuesday night.
The PGA Tour announced he would be replaced with Mark Hubbard.
“It sucks that Brooks isn’t playing,” said reigning Travelers champion Harris English. “Obviously to lose a top player like that, kind of sucks. I mean, you want to play against some of the best guys in the world.”
The development came as the PGA Tour held a player meeting at the Travelers Championship, during which Commissioner Jay Monahan spoke of the tour's position and plans to reshape the season and its tournaments.
According to two players in the meeting, the PGA Tour plans to return to a calendar season that would start in January, and only the top 70 players would be eligible for the FedEx Cup playoffs. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was for players.
Koepka is one of four players to originally commit to the Travelers field who dropped out due to LIV affiliations. The others are Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Abraham Ancer.
Meanwhile, Thomas - the reigning PGA champion and No. 5 player in the world - withdrew from Travelers to rest a sore back.
“Before the rumors start flying, I have decided to WD to treat and rest my back which I tweaked earlier this week. Just making sure I get it taken care of and ready for the rest of the PGA season as planned. Hate to be missing one of the best/my favorite events @TravelersChamp!” he tweeted.
The PGA announced he would be replaced by Satoshi Kodaira.
Bubba Watson, a three-time winner at Travelers, is also missing the tournament as he recovers from a knee injury.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
---
Have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
---
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.
