Koepka said he can’t wait for the week to be over because of all the attention. The gratitude of returning to the PGA Tour comes with the kind of nerves the five-time Major champion rarely experiences: He wonders if others are thinking about him.
“It feels a little different,” he said ahead of the Farmers Insurance Open, his first non-major on the PGA Tour since losing in the quarterfinals of the Match Play in March 2022. “I’m definitely a little more nervous this week coming back. But it feels good. I’m super grateful to be back.”
Koepka cited the need to be closer to his family as the main reason for wanting to leave LIV. His wife announced in early October that she had suffered a pregnancy loss at 16 weeks.
Woods was partially responsible for Koepka’s path back, along with other player directors on the PGA Tour board who worked with CEO Brian Rolapp to devise a plan for the return of select players. Koepka is the first LIV defector, and that came at a price.
He will make a $5 million charitable contribution (to be determined during the tour), receive no FedEx Cup bonus money this year and will be banned from PGA Tour stock for five years, a value the tour has estimated at $50 million and more.
He also cannot compete in the $20 million signature events until he has qualified on his own.
“I think it’s a new start for me, and that’s cool,” Koepka said. “It’s just another chapter in my book. I’m excited about that. I feel like my game is pretty good and I want to see where it is. Obviously this week is a little different. I would like to finish this week and feel like I can get back to playing golf.”
Woods never considered going to LIV and has discredited those who did – “They turned their backs on what allowed them to get to this position,” he said a month after LIV began – and he is now the voice of the leading player on the PGA Tour board.
Koepka said he has always had a good relationship with Woods. Moreover, he had never met Rolapp, who had been employed for just six months. Commissioner Jay Monahan, who attended Koepka’s wedding a month before Koepka left for LIV in 2022, would have been next on his list.
“I felt like Tiger was someone I relied on in the past for questions and answers and how to handle things, and I felt like that was maybe the most comfortable call for me,” Koepka said.
Woods was among the players who supported the decision to let Koepka back in, saying it made the PGA Tour stronger and would ultimately increase value for players who received shares. “It’s a win for everyone,” Woods said.
Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player who shares the same manager as Koepka, also backed the decision.
“I think it’s good to get someone back on tour who wants to be back,” Scheffler said. “Brooks had a desire to get back to the tour. Over the last few months he certainly had a great desire to get back to the tour, and I’m glad that Brian, the team and the board were able to find a way for him to be able to come back and get started here again.”
What remains to be determined, at both Torrey Pines and the Phoenix Open, is how golf fans will receive a player who left the PGA Tour after the 2022 U.S. Open for a rival league that paid outrageous signing bonuses. Koepka once confirmed that he had “nine figures.”
“Maybe I’m a little nervous about that too, just to see how the fans react to it,” Koepka said. “I hope they’re excited. I hope they’re happy that I’m here.”
Koepka couldn’t remember the last time he had been to a tournament other than the majors. Just pulling into the parking lot was so blurry that he doesn’t remember who he first saw. There were hugs with Billy Horschel and Harris English at the shooting range.
And then it was off to the South Course to play the back nine. He played with rookie Marcelo Rozo. With them on the 18th tee were Akshay Bhatia and Matti Schmid, neither on the PGA Tour when Koepka left. Nearly half the field in the pro-am didn’t even have PGA Tour cards when Koepka left.
“There are a lot of new faces,” Koepka said. “But I’m happy to meet those guys and feel like I’m part of the tour.”
He returns to a PGA Tour amid big changes. Woods leads the Future Competition Committee that is reshaping the schedule so that every event feels like a major event. There are eleven tournaments with prize money of at least $20 million, not including the four majors.
Is it better than when he left?
“I’ll be in two days,” Koepka said, smiling.
That’s what Justin Rose answered for him when asked about Koepka’s return.
“We have all benefited from this chaos in some way,” Rose said. “It’s been good for tour players in the sense that the forces are being pushed a little harder in our direction with parity in the tour and prize funds.
“But we need a premium product,” he said. “And this is the first time someone moving the needle has come our way.”
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