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PGA Tour’s Jason Kokrak Launches Ball Off the Course, Ditches Round To Potentially Join LIV Golf

Professional golfer Jason Kokrak brought the term, “take my ball and go home” to life on Friday. The 37-year-old walked off the course without recording a score on his final hole of the second round of the Travelers Championship. He also failed to turn in a final scorecard.

Kokrak’s frustration set in after blasting his second shot on the par-4 ninth hole over the green. It was so far off course (no pun intended) that ShotLink described the shot as “87 yards into the unknown.”

Kokrak did his due diligence, searching for the ball in an attempt to finish the round. Eventually, though, it appears he decided to call it a day and left the course without completing the final hole.

“Jason Kokrak was disqualified from the Travelers Championship after failing to record a score on his final hole (No. 9) in the second round and subsequently failing to return a scorecard,” the PGA Tour wrote on Twitter.

Every weekend golfer has endured a round like, deciding to cut their losses and pack it in for the day. It’s a bizarre way to see a PGA professional end a tournament, though.

Kokrak’s strange exit from the Travelers Championship leads some to believe he isn’t just leaving the course. The golfer’s actions might be a sign that he’s leaving the PGA Tour behind and will join the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and others at LIV Golf.

It’s quite a peculiar way to leave if that was, in fact, Kokrak’s goodbye to the PGA Tour.

Is There a Simpler Explanation for Jason Kokrak’s Departure?

Jason Kokrak has been a name rumored to have interest in leaving the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf. Earlier in June, Golf Monthly mentioned Kokrak as a likely candidate to change leagues when Pat Perez officially joined LIV.

Following Kokrak’s actions, it’s easy to understand why many believe that the ninth hole on Friday was his last with the PGA Tour. But there might actually be a simpler explanation behind Kokrak’s decision to exit the Travelers Championship in abrupt fashion.

Action Network’s Jason Sobel said he texted with Will McGirt, who was playing with Kokrak on Friday. It sounds like the 37-year-old didn’t want to hold up the group behind him any longer, knowing he wasn’t making the weekend cut.

“Texted with Will McGirt, who was playing with Kokrak,” Sobel wrote on Twitter. “They didn’t realize the ball went (out of bounds). By the time he could figure out where to drop, the group behind was waiting. He didn’t want to hold them up and was going to (miss the cut) anyway. But it wasn’t some walk-off from PGA Tour life.”

Kokrak started the Travelers Championship well, shooting a 3-under-par 67 in the first round. The second round didn’t go quite as planned, sitting at 4-over-par on Friday heading into the 18th hole. The cut line for the tournament was -2.

Although Kokrak’s name is still tied with a potential jump to LIV Golf, it doesn’t sound like Friday’s abrupt departure was a middle finger to the PGA Tour.