While You Were Caroling
Koepka smashes his LIV future in search of major mojo, Jumbo Ozaki passes, Luke Donald speaks, and the year-end top 50 is finalized. Plus, other stories you might have missed over the holiday week.
Great news!
Eleven more months until you can safely walk into a place of business without sonic bombardments from the worst of Mariah Carey, Jose Feliciano, and Michael Bublé. Meanwhile, as you were (hopefully) zoned out or playing golf somewhere warm, the world of majors marched on with an inevitable Christmas Eve news dump, a sad loss, some revealing year-end Ryder Cup reflections, and other assorted items of interest.
Peter Yagi Golf Books
If you received a gift that made No Laying Up’s annual reveal of gifts that relatives thought a golfer would love, it’s time to treat yourself to a golf book or three. My trusted golf book seller friend Peter Yagi is having his annual post-Christmas sale where he’s offering 20% off with the purchase of 3 items or more. Peter always has what I’m looking for, and his pricing is generally very fair given that he knows the market and focuses on first editions in excellent condition. He also has a good stock of my various books signed because, well, I just signed them for him! Titles like The Captain, Alister MacKenzie’s Cypress Point Club, The Golden Age of Golf Design, Grounds for Golf, Lines of Charm, etc. are all available, according to Peter (even if you don’t see them listed in the catalog).
Just drop him a note at peteyagi1@gmail.com with questions, since stuff comes and goes. Peter will let you know or can guide you to a great book in a category that excites you. He takes Venmo, Money Orders and Credit card payments via Paypal.
His Christmas 2025 catalog:
Free Of LIV, Koepka Can Get His Mojo Back
Nothing sets off The Quad’s newsroom sirens like stories dumped in the Christmas-adjacent cycle. And when they come with Pravda-adjacent headlines followed by a “staff” byline, well, you know it’s a five-alarm mess that everyone hopes H.E. or his murder-ordering boss (allegedly!) will not see:
Brooks Koepka’s premature departure from his LIV contract does look pretty bad for the league that lured him away after the 2022 season. And it’s a blow to the ego of a player who thrives on a form of supreme confidence that carried him to five major wins and several other near-misses. So he shielded his decision behind the dreaded “more time at home” claim.
“Family has always guided Brooks’ decisions, and he feels this is the right moment to spend more time at home,” according to a statement from his management team. “Brooks will continue to be a huge supporter of LIV Golf and wishes the league and its players continued success. Brooks remains passionate about the game of golf and will keep fans updated on what’s ahead.”
This sounded oddly familiar to No Laying Up, given that Koepka left the PGA Tour to have a lighter schedule:
More likely, Koepka does not want to make another trip to Riyadh or the other mediocre, pay-to-host venues far from his Florida home. Whether it was 54 holes, team golf, travel or the venues, Koepka lost his edge playing LIV’s exhibition-heavy schedule. This was widely predicted when the big stage-loving guy bolted for the money.
Koepka’s ability to focus and thrive on the biggest stages has always been fascinating because he’s so barely above average in non-majors. This turnkey gift made him one of the most fascinating players in the sport's modern era, despite the constant prickliness to deeply probing questions like, what did you hit on 16? Throw in a beautifully simple swing, fast play, and a disdain for the competition, and all nearly makes up for the gruff demeanor.
Koepka captured an incredible five Grand Slam titles in a 22-event run from the 2017 U.S. Open to the 2023 PGA. He was in the top ten another eight times during that run and had high-profile near-misses at the 2019 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters. He contended or nearly won half the majors in that span, a clip that only Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler, or Rory McIlroy could relate to.
Look at Koepka’s major championship run from the 2017 U.S. Open victory at Erin Hills until the win at Oak Hill, his third PGA Championship:
WIN-T6-T13-WIN-T39-WIN-T2-WIN-2nd-T4-T29-T7-MC-T2-T4-T6-MC-T55-MC-T2-WIN
Koepka’s LIV career started out in a way that suggested he was just fine with the move. He finished second at the 2023 Masters in a thrilling showdown against Jon Rahm, then won at Oak Hill in his second major after giving up his PGA Tour membership.
And in majors since Oak Hill in 2023?
T17-T64-T45-T26-T26-T43-MC-MC-T12-MC
Perhaps the pressures of captaining Smash GC got the best of his edge? At least his leadership role gave us the epic “punishment workouts” that will forever be remembered in team golf infamy.
Koepka has an intriguing road ahead if he still has the passion to compete.
There has already been endless speculation about rejoining the PGA Tour. Golf’s clubby culture is endlessly fascinated by the numbingly dull speculation over whether or not Brooks will be forgiven by the membership committee for joining that new club down the street or daring to insult the Board’s decision to spend $5 million on modern clubhouse furniture, all while the greens needed to be rebuilt.
With the PGA Tour making up rules as they go, it won’t be surprising if they find a way to welcome him back. But if Koepka is leaving LIV because he’s only got a few more years of his prime and wants to contend in more majors, he’d be better off telling them no thanks. His bruised ego just needs time and little of the sucking up required to assuage the catty club types who have way too much say over PGA Tour matters.
Koepka can use his DP World Tour status to stay sharp enough for Grand Slam events. He’s exempt through 2028 in all four majors (and for life in the PGA Championship). Flights to Europe and beyond will shoot a hole in the “more time with family” narrative. But given how his early career turned on his decision to play in Europe and knowing that his peak years leaned on an aggrieved underdog mindset, Koepka’s more likely to rekindle his passion for the biggest stages with tune-up starts in Europe instead of the no-cut, smaller-field PGA Tour stops that are increasingly looking like the LIV events he’s fleeing. Even better, he won’t have to “apologize” or “make amends” or pay fines that go in the pockets of the Tour’s new private equity investors.
Either way, it’s been a regrettable chapter for a player who took his peak years and threw a wrench in a formula that vaulted him to a level few golfers ever achieve. But at 35, he’s young enough to claw back.
Jumbo Ozaki (1947-2025)
Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, widely considered Japan’s greatest golfer until Hideki Matsuyama came along, died on Christmas Eve at age 78. The cause was colorectal cancer.
Ozaki captured the Japan Golf Tour’s money list 12 times, won a record 94 times, and remained inside the Official World Golf Ranking’s top 10 for more than 200 weeks. Even after finishing T8 in his 1973 Masters debut, Ozaki rarely strayed from his home country other than for major appearances.
“My only regret is not playing more outside of Japan,” he said at his 2011 World Golf Hall of Fame induction. “But I dedicated my life to Japanese golf.”
An artist on and off the course—including three chart-topping singles as a crooner—Ozaki and his talented brothers Joe and Jet were vital to popularizing golf in Japan.
Jumbo’s colorful style and length off the tee made him a fan favorite. His 5-degree driver briefly spawned the J-Driver craze after Jack Nicklaus watched Jumbo’s drives fly past his best. Nicklaus and Ray Floyd both put one of the mysterious low-left, graphite-shafted drivers in their bags. At age 47, Floyd finished second in the 1990 Masters using a J-Driver.
As prolific a champion as he was in Japan, Ozaki’s game did not translate to major championship success. Over 49 appearances, he finished in the top 10 three times, with his best finishes being the T8 in his Masters debut, a T6 at the 1989 U.S. Open, and a T10 at The Open (1979). Ozaki played his final major in 2000 and finished T28 at the Masters when he was 53. He won his final of 94 professional events two years later.