Brooks Koepka Can't Have A 'Frictionless' Path Back To PGA Tour After LIV Golf Exit, According To Analyst

Brooks Koepka's recent exit from LIV Golf has re-ignited discussions about what a return to the PGA Tour could, or should, look like for players who left the Tour for the breakaway circuit. 

Some, including Rory McIlroy, believe high-profile players like Koepka, who could potentially be looking for a return to the Tour, should be able to do so without consequence. McIlroy is of the opinion that players who left for LIV have already paid their consequences.

Others, including Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee, share quite the opposite opinion.

Chamblee recently sat down with Trey Wingo on the ‘Straight Facts Homie!’ podcast and laid out his reasoning as to why he believes the Tour welcoming back Koepka without any form of consequence would potentially set the organization down a very slippery slope.

"I think it'd be great to have Brooks back. By all accounts, he's very popular amongst his peers. He didn't wag his finger at the PGA Tour. So, with Brooks, you know, he's going to get a lot of leeway on that because he's he is a popular player. His departure was as amicable as it could be, and hopefully his way back will be amicable, but it can't set the precedent of being frictionless," Chamblee told Wingo. 

"He can't come back frictionless. He can't come back easy. The penalty doesn't need to be punitive. It doesn't, and I don't think it will be, but I think it will have some suspension element to it or he'll be made to have to re-qualify again for the PGA Tour to some extent or to play lesser events on the PGA Tour until he again establishes himself into the upper echelons of the PGA Tour."

Chamblee's points are more than fair, and many in the golf world share the same sentiments, but Koepka is a unique character in the scenario.

Brooks Koepka's Golf Future Entirely Up In The Air

According to multiple reports, Koepka did not renew his PGA Tour membership in 2022 when he left for LIV, which, to most people's understanding, means he didn't technically violate the Tour.

Brooks Koepka may be looking to return to the PGA Tour sooner rather than later. (Bob Donnan-Imagn Images)

So, not only do you potentially have a player who may not have violated the Tour's bylaws, but you also have a player who is a five-time major champion, extremely popular, and someone who likely has years left of playing world-class level golf. All three of those attributes make Koepka a wanted man if you are the PGA Tour.

"How do you treat somebody who left for LIV when they were not in direct violation of PGA Tour rules," Chamblee asked Wingo later on. "But if you allow, at least in my view, if you allow a frictionless return of those who left to come back to the PGA tour, you're privileging those who left over those who stayed."

Again, a fair point made by Chamblee.

The only fact in this particular situation that everyone can agree on is that we're dealing in unprecedented waters. In fact, we don't even know if Koepka is looking to make a return to the PGA Tour in the coming months or even in 2026 altogether.

Upon his departure from LIV, Koepka's representatives cited that family and spending more time at home had guided him to the decision to leave the Saudi-backed circuit. His exit did add fuel to the rumor that he would sit out the 2026 LIV season and use it as a gap year to serve out a suspected 12-month PGA Tour suspension with the hopes of returning to the Tour in August 2026. 

Koepka is still eligible to play on the DP World Tour and in major championships thanks to his victory at the 2023 PGA Championship.