Brooks Koepka 'Tired' of LIV Golf Talk: 'Throwing a Black Cloud on the US Open'

Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka lamented the amount of discussion devoted to the LIV Golf-PGA Tour drama ahead of this week's 2022 U.S. Open.

"I don't understand," Koepka told reporters Tuesday. "I'm trying to focus on the U.S. Open, man. I legitimately don't get it. I'm tired of the conversations. I'm tired of all this stuff. Like I said, y'all are throwing a black cloud on the U.S. Open. I think that sucks."

While the PGA Tour has suspended members who took part in LIV's debut tournament last week, the USGA announced all eligible players are free to compete in the season's third major event regardless of their tour affiliation.

Koepka sent Golf Twitter into a brief frenzy last week. He posted the eyeball emoji on the eve of LIV's inaugural event only the return a few hours later to post a link about the New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley:

Trolling aside, the 2017 and 2018 U.S. Open champion clearly believes it's time to get back to business ahead of the major.

Rory McIlroy, a fellow four-time major champ, has been outspoken against LIV Golf, which is funded by Saudi Arabia, a country with a history of human-rights violations, and has offered prospective golfers massive guaranteed contracts to switch.

"I think everything that's happening with this [LIV Golf] tour, it legitimatizes their place in the world, and I'm sure not every Saudi Arabian is a bad person. We're talking about this in such a generalized way," McIlroy told reporters Tuesday. "I've spent a lot of time in the Middle East, and the vast majority of people that I've met there are very, very nice people, but there's bad people everywhere. The bad people that came from that part of the world did some absolutely horrendous things."

The Northern Irishman added he understands older golfers taking the money, but feels players in their competitive prime are "taking the easy way out."

Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia are among the high-profile players who joined LIV last week. Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau are notable names set to join in future events.

While they remain eligible for the majors, the PGA Tour's role in international events like the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup leaves them temporarily banned from those competitions, though that ruling could get challenged in court.

Ultimately, despite Koepka's desire for the focus to shift to the on-course play this week, there will likely be a distinct PGA vs. LIV feel throughout the weekend.

After that, the players will once again go separate ways to continue their tour schedules until the Open Championship in mid-July.