‘I’m very torn’: Major champion criticizes Brooks Koepka’s return to PGA Tour

Since the PGA Tour announced the return of Brooks Koepka, people on both sides of the Gulf civil war have largely stuck to the script. For those on the PGA Tour side of the equation, it’s something of a coup. It is no problem for the donors of LIV Golf.

But now one PGA Tour pro and major champion is bucking the trend.

In a new interview, Wyndham Clark expressed his “conflicted” feelings about Koepka’s return to the Tour. He admitted it’s “really good for the PGA Tour,” but also revealed his frustration with the controversial situation.

Wyndham Clark frustrated Koepka could ‘have the cake and eat it too’

Clark, the 2023 US Open champion, joined SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio’s “Gravy & the Sleeze” show this week, and co-host Colt Knost quickly got to the point, asking Clark what he thinks about Koepka’s comeback on Tour.

“Gosh, I’m so torn,” an animated Clark began.

He then explained that while he thinks Koepka’s return is good for the Tour, and ultimately for him, he doesn’t think it’s entirely fair.

“Personally, I really like Brooks [Koepka]and I think ultimately it’s very good for the PGA Tour. But as a guy who had the opportunity to go to LIV, it’s also kind of frustrating that he can have his cake and eat it too. I don’t know, I’m really torn, because at the end of the day I want the best for the PGA Tour, and I think if guys come back, especially top players like Brooks, it will only help the Tour, and that will ultimately help me too. So yeah, I mean, I don’t really know how I feel.

Clark’s main problem is that he turned down a big offer from LIV in 2024, not knowing that if he had gone to LIV and secured a major financial windfall, he could have returned to the Tour like Koepka, through the Returning Player Program.

“If you told me I could have stayed a year and a half, made a lot of money and then come back and played on Tour, I think almost anyone would have done that,” Clark explained.

When Clark revealed that he had turned down an offer from LIV in 2024, he said at the time: “I ultimately declined to go to LIV because I felt like I still had a lot of things left in the tank on the PGA Tour and I wanted to chase records, I wanted to chase world rankings. My dream is to try to be one of the top players in the world, if not the top player. I just grew up wanting to win PGA Tour events. So ultimately, I have my legacy above.” LIV was chosen and that is really what it came down to.”

Interestingly, Clark previously expressed support for LIV players with exemplary PGA Tour ‘pedigrees’ being allowed to return to the Tour. He even named Koepka as one of the players he approved returning.

“Guys who have had the career where they should be lifelong PGA Tour players deserve the right to come play the PGA Tour,” Clark said in October 2024 on the No Laying Up podcast. “If Dustin Johnson wants to come back and Phil Mickelson and guys who have won, Brooks, who have won majors and are most likely Hall of Famers, they deserve to play wherever they want because they are that good.”

Clark believes Koepka’s Tour penalties should have been harsher

But that wasn’t the only topic Clark addressed in his interview with “Gravy & the Sleeze.” He also revealed that he has a problem with the financial sanctions Koepka agreed to in order to return to the Tour.

Between equity forfeitures, FedEx Cup bonus restrictions and a major charitable donation, Koepka’s fines could reach $100 million.

Clark doesn’t think that’s enough.

“I wish maybe there were some more consequences,” Clark said on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio“but I’m happy that the things they’ve put in place, I think are pretty decent.”

Finally, Clark expressed support for another aspect of the PGA Tour’s Returning Player Program: that the opportunity for players to return to the Tour closes on February 2, 2026.

“And I like the hard deadline, too. I think that’s good,” Clark said. “I just hope that they will stick to it, and that maybe in a year or two they won’t question it.”

In other words, Clark hopes the PGA Tour doesn’t offer this unique opportunity to LIV players again in the future, such as a year from now when Bryson DeChambeau’s LIV contract expires.