Brooks Koepka Returning To PGA Tour This Month, But It's Going To Cost Him A Huge Chunk Of Change
The five-time major winner is back.
Brooks Koepka is officially returning to the PGA Tour. That news isn't the least bit shocking after his split with LIV Golf in December, but the details and timing involved with his move back to the Tour present an entirely new reality within professional golf.
The PGA Tour announced the introduction of a Returning Member Program on Monday, while also specifically noting Koepka's return and the ramifications that come along with it. The Returning Member Program is only accessible to previous Tour members who have won The Players or a major championship between 2022 and 2025. Koepka meets the criteria, having won the 2023 PGA Championship.
The only other LIV players who meet the Returning Member Program criteria are Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, and Jon Rahm.
Recent discussions about Koepka's seemingly inevitable return to the Tour have centered around money and penalties he, and others who follow his path, would face, and now we have those details.
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, but at a major cost. (Bob Donnan-Imagn Images)
The Tour's statement explained that Koepka has agreed to make a $5 million charitable contribution. He has also agreed to include a five-year forfeiture of potential equity in the PGA Tour's Player Equity Program, which estimates his potential losses to be approximately $50-$85 million. Koepka will also not receive any FedEx Cup bonus payment in 2026.
Those are the (incredibly costly) negatives involved with Koepka's return to the Tour. They likely don't sting quite as badly as one might think, seeing as how he joined LIV on a reported deal worth more than $100 million.
The positive is that Koepka is exempt into all full-field events on the 2026 PGA Tour schedule, including The Players, and he isn't wasting too much time getting back into the swing of things. He will have to play his way into the higher-purse signature events on the calendar.
In a statement he shared on Instagram, Koepka announced his plans to return to the Farmers Insurance Open at the end of January while also teeing it up the next week at the WM Phoenix Open, a tournament he's won twice in his career.
"I believe in where the PGA Tour is headed with new leadership, new investors, and an equity program that gives players a meaningful ownership stake. I also understand there are financial penalties associated with this decision, and I accept those," Koepka's statement read in part.
Koepka, who won five LIV Golf titles, last played a regular event on Tour in March 2022.