5-time main champion Brooks Koepka will return to the PGA Tour as a part of the brand new Returning Member Program, which may also permit three of LIV Golf’s different prime stars to return if they need.
In a memo despatched to PGA Tour members on Monday, a replica of which was obtained by ESPN, the tour mentioned Koepka is scheduled to return on the Farmers Insurance coverage Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., from Jan. 29 to Feb. 29. 1. He’s additionally scheduled to play within the WM Phoenix Open subsequent week at TPC Scottsdale.
“As a child, I at all times dreamed of competing on the PGA Tour, and as we speak I am simply as excited to announce my return to the PGA Tour,” Koepka mentioned in an announcement posted to X on Monday. “This chance is particularly significant to me as a result of it permits me to be nearer to dwelling and spend extra time with my household. I imagine in the place the PGA Tour is headed with new management, new buyers, and an fairness program that provides gamers significant possession.”
The Returning Member Program permits LIV golfers who’ve been away from the PGA Tour for at the least two years and win the Gamers Championship or any of the 4 majors (Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, British Open Championship) after 2022 to return to the PGA Tour beneath sure circumstances and topic to extreme monetary penalties.
Different LIV Golf rivals eligible to return beneath this system are 2024 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm, and 2022 Gamers Championship and British Open Championship winner Cameron Smith.
The window for LIV golfers to use for reinstatement beneath this system will open on Monday and shut on February 2, in keeping with a memo from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolup to PGA Tour members. Golfers looking for to return to the PGA Tour should decide to taking part in at the least 15 co-sponsored or sanctioned occasions through the 2026 season.
“This can be a one-time, established framework and isn’t a precedent for future conditions,” Rolup wrote. “As soon as the doorways shut, there isn’t any assure that this street can be out there once more.”
The PGA Tour Board of Administrators, which incorporates Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay and Adam Scott, voted to approve the returning member program Thursday, sources advised ESPN. Koepka utilized for reinstatement on Friday and met face-to-face with Rolup the identical day at PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Seaside, Florida, officers mentioned.
The Participant Advisory Council assembly was held Monday at 1:00 PM ET.
As a part of the phrases of Koepka’s return, he agreed to surrender all participant fairness for the following 5 years and grow to be ineligible for the $100 million FedEx Cup bonus program in 2026, in keeping with the memo.
Koepka additionally agreed to donate $5 million to charity on the PGA Tour’s request.
“The stripping away of 5 years of potential fairness in our participant fairness program represents one of many largest monetary impacts within the historical past {of professional} sports activities. We estimate that Brooks may miss out on roughly $50 million to $85 million in potential income, relying on his aggressive efficiency and tour progress,” Rolup mentioned within the memo.
Koepka mentioned in an announcement that he understands the monetary penalties related together with his resolution and “I settle for them.”
In a memo to PGA Tour golfers, Rolup mentioned this system “ensures that solely gamers who’ve lately achieved the most effective within the recreation are eligible to return to the PGA Tour, the place the world’s finest gamers compete each week.”
Koepka, 35, final appeared on the PGA Tour on March 22, 2022, when he tied for twelfth on the Valspar Championship. The nine-time tour winner can compete in every of the 4 majors this season due to a five-year exemption from successful the 2023 PGA Championship.
The PGA Tour mentioned in a memo that Koepka is eligible to play within the Gamers Championship and different full-field occasions, however should earn a spot on this season’s eight signature occasions by successful a event or qualifying by one in every of three routes. Aon Swing 5 (prime 5 FedEx Cup level earners between particular occasions who usually are not exempt); or these within the prime 30 of the Official World Golf Rankings who’re ineligible for some other purpose.
Koepka has not earned any world rating factors for his LIV Golf end and is ranked 244th within the OWGR. He isn’t eligible for the 4 sponsor exemptions in any occasion this season.
The PGA Tour will develop the fields of its signature occasions, full-field tournaments and The Gamers Championship to accommodate returning golfers beneath the Returning Member Program.
Returning members will qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs in the event that they earn factors, however they are going to be added to the sector and won’t have an effect on the eligibility of different golfers. He may also be eligible to play within the Presidents Cup.
“To make sure equity to present members, the Returning Member Program is not going to deprive present members of taking part in alternatives. Fields can be expanded as wanted,” Lollup mentioned within the memo.
Koepka is the primary five-time LIV Golf champion, however he struggled within the majors final season, lacking out on spots on the Masters, PGA Championship and British Open, and tied for twelfth on the U.S. Open. He left the LIV Golf League on December 23 with one 12 months left on his contract.
“I believe all of us needed it to be just a little extra superior, it is no secret,” Koepka mentioned in April when requested to judge LIV Golf in its fourth season.
LIV Golf mentioned in an announcement Monday that since its founding, it has “championed open ecosystems and freedom for all.”
“It is not only a choose few,” LIV Golf’s assertion mentioned. “We help the precise of gamers to compete throughout a wide range of platforms, reinforcing our perception that the sport is finest served when its finest gamers are empowered to hunt out probably the most aggressive environments around the globe.”
DeChambeau, one of many world’s hottest golfers, is believed to be within the closing season of a four-year contract with LIV Golf, which is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund.
Final month, DeChambeau mentioned on the “Flushing It” podcast that Koepka’s departure “injects some distinctive parts” into negotiations with LIV.
“And, look, as I’ve mentioned all alongside, I need to do that, I need to develop crew golf around the globe,” DeChambeau mentioned. “However it needs to be proper. And there is a whole lot of work that needs to be performed for it to be proper, proper? Issues have to vary. Issues need to get higher.”
Present Masters champion Rory McIlroy and others have supported LIV golfers’ return to the PGA Tour, however Koepka’s return is certain to trigger controversy amongst common golfers and others on the tour.
Rolup mentioned the brand new program is a “direct response to a singular scenario.”
“After evaluating the scenario, our targets have been clear: (1) to make the PGA Tour stronger; (2) to protect taking part in alternatives for our present members; and (3) to satisfy our followers’ need to see the world’s finest gamers return to the tour, whereas additionally making certain that returning members settle for powerful however applicable monetary penalties,” Rolup wrote.
“We acknowledge that there could also be questions on what duty this coverage imposes on returning gamers, particularly after incomes important compensation elsewhere. In the end, Brooks is making the choice to return to the PGA Tour now by accepting membership within the Returning Member class. That is what our followers need and it strengthens each the sport and our group.”
