HONOLULU — Brooks Koepka is expecting a nervous energy when he returns to a regular PGA Tour event for the first time in four years at the Farmers Insurance Open.
How he is received — inside and outside the ropes — remains to be seen as the first player to be invited back to the PGA Tour after taking Saudi riches to defect to the LIV Golf League in 2022.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do with some of the players,” Koepka said in a telephone interview Monday. “There’s definitely guys who are happy, and definitely guys who will be angry. It’s a harsh punishment financially. I understand exactly why the tour did that — it’s meant to hurt. But it [his departure] hurt a lot of people.
Koepka was allowed back under a one-time Returning Member Program that the PGA Tour board developed and approved last week. It applies only to players who have won a major or the Players Championship since 2022.
The penalty is a $5 million contribution to a charity the tour will help decide, no access to FedEx Cup bonus money in 2026, no sponsor exemptions to the $20 million signature events and, most importantly, no equity grants in the PGA Tour for the next five years.
The PGA Tour estimates, based on Koepka performing at the level allowed to win five majors, that the financial repercussions could be worth anywhere from $50 million to $85 million.
For those not happy to see him return, Koepka said he looks forward to having private conversations outside the media.
“The first week I’ll be a little bit nervous,” Koepka said. “There’s a lot going on than just golf. I’ll be glad to put the first week behind me — dealing with the media, dealing with the players, and then getting some of those tougher conversations. But I’m looking forward to it.
“You’re not going to ask somebody to change to please other people,” Spieth said. “I don’t think he needs to play Monday pro-ams or walk along the range and shake everyone’s and say, ‘I’m sorry.’ He just comes back and plays really good golf. That’s good for everybody.”
The board, led by a majority of players, signed off on the plan. Koepka talked with Rolapp by phone Thursday evening, and he was at PGA Tour headquarters the next morning unaccompanied. He came in through a side entrance.
The 35-year-old Koepka, who is exempt the next three years from his 2023 victory in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, will return at Torrey Pines on Jan. 29. He also said he would play the WM Phoenix Open, where he won his first PGA Tour title in 2015 and won again in 2021.
That might provide the first real test of how the public feels — a Saturday afternoon on the 16th hole of the TPC Scottsdale, the rowdiest in golf even for players the fans don’t really know.
“I can handle it,” Koepka said. “I enjoy the crowd, and hopefully everybody is happy to see me. They can’t be mad at me forever.”
Word first began to circulate in November that negotiations between Koepka and LIV Golf — he had one year left on his contract — were not going well. He had publicly complained last summer that LIV was not as far along as he would have liked.
And then Dec. 23 came the announcement from LIV of an “amicable” split, and Koepka reapplied for PGA Tour membership.
Mark Schlabach breaks down the details of Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour under the Returning Member Program. (1:14)
“If anyone is upset, I need to rebuild those relationships.”
Jordan Spieth said Koepka just needed to be the same person who left.
“I’m happy and grateful it was able to come to this.”
“Am I nervous? Yes. Am I excited? Yes. In a weird way, I want to have those conversations.”
How do current players feel about Koepka’s PGA Tour return? (1:14)Mark Schlabach breaks down the details of Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour under the Returning Member Program. (1:14)