Brooks Koepka during the FedEx Open de France 2025. Photo / Getty Images
Brooks Koepka will return to the PGA Tour later this month despite having only quit LIV Golf a few weeks ago.
The five-time major winner will have to pay a US$5 million ($8.67m) fine to charity, as well as have his playing possibilities on the US circuit restricted for at least a year, but this is still a huge moment in the LIV saga that has split the game.
The Tour has ditched its former disciplinary procedure to accommodate Koepka and effectively told Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith that they, too, can rejoin if they decide to do so by the start of next month.
But the floodgates have not been opened. This welcome only applies to this quartet, meaning that Sawgrass HQ has decided that it is one rule for the very best who jumped on to the Saudi-funded league, and another for the rest.
In a memo to Tour members this week, Brian Rolapp, the recently installed chief executive, explained that a one-time programme for elite players has been created. It is bound to cause anger among the rank and file and indeed those big names who turned down hundreds of millions to remain loyal to the Tour. But Rolapp has attempted to appease any dissent by inflicting financial penalties that could rank among the largest in sport.
After three years with LIV, and little more than a month after stunning the sport by walking out on the breakaway circuit with a year left on his contract, Koepka will play at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines at the end of the month. However, he will not be eligible for PGA Tour equity grants for five years, he will not receive FedEx Cup bonus money in 2026 and he cannot play signature events unless he earns his way in.
He also has to cough up $8.67m in charity donations to be chosen jointly with the Tour. Yet the biggest hit will be the denial of any access to equity or, indeed, this year’s FedEx Cup bonus pot. Rolapp estimated that the potential loss for Koepka could be upwards of US$50m ($86.7m).
Yet as Koepka is believed to have signed up to LIV for US$125m ($216m), and won more than US$45m ($78m) on the league, he will hardly be out of pocket. And Rolapp knows that this “punishment” will be criticised.
“We recognise there may be questions about how this policy holds a returning player accountable, especially after earning substantial compensation elsewhere,” Rolapp said in the letter. “Ultimately, by accepting membership in the Returning Member category, Brooks is making the decision to return to the PGA Tour now – something our fans want, and something that strengthens both the game and our organisation.”
The devil is, as ever, in the detail, and one can only guess what a player such as Hudson Swafford must feel as he reads it. He was told he was banned for three years after reapplying for PGA Tour membership in 2024, after appearing on LIV. That suspension remains.
This new policy is only open to golfers who have won a major or the Players Championship since 2022 and who have been away from the Tour for at least two years. That “elite performance-based criteria” limits those eligible to just Koepka, Rahm, DeChambeau and Smith.
And in another move which can surely be viewed as bait to test the resolve of the other trio, the Tour also narrowed the window for those interested in returning to the circuit, with a deadline of February 2. LIV’s 2026 season starts in Riyadh two days later.
Koepka, whom LIV announced was quitting to spend more time with his family, was appropriately humble in his reaction.
I want to thank my family and my team for their continued support throughout every step of my professional career. When I was a child, I always dreamed about competing on the @PGATOUR, and I am just as excited today to announce that I am returning to the PGA TOUR. Being closer to… pic.twitter.com/SEIehuZN7O
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) January 12, 2026
“When I was a child, I always dreamed about competing on the PGA Tour,” he said. “And I am just as excited today to announce that I am returning to the PGA Tour. This opportunity is especially meaningful to me.“I believe in where the PGA Tour is headed with new leadership, new investors, and an equity programme that gives players a meaningful ownership stake. I also understand there are financial penalties associated with this decision, and I accept those.
“Finally, I want to thank the fans. Your support means more to me today than ever before, and I look forward to seeing you soon at the Farmers Insurance Open and [the following week’s] WM Phoenix Open.“
Under the policy, Koepka is not eligible to receive equity grants from the Tour for five years and he is also ineligible to earn FedExCup bonuses, even if he qualifies for this year’s play-offs. Koepka will have to earn his way into this season’s eight US$20m signature events, which include the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Genesis Invitational, promoted by Tiger Woods. Yet the same rewards will not be on offer, even if he makes it.
“Forfeiting five years of potential equity in our Player Equity Program represents one of the largest financial repercussions in professional sports history – our estimations are that Brooks could miss out on approximately US$50-$85 million in potential earnings depending on his competitive performance and the growth of the Tour,” Rolapp said.
They seem to be strict sanctions, but for the loyalists and the traditionalists will they be deemed to be enough for a character who threatened the existence of the Tour? What is certain is that the LIV controversy has turned the page into another explosive chapter.