Hideki Matsuyama Slams PGA Tour Over Handling of Brooks Koepka’s Return

Sonali SV

January 28, 2026 | 1:11 PM EST

Hideki Matsuyama Slams PGA Tour Over Handling of Brooks Koepka’s Return — Hideki Matsuyama

Hideki Matsuyama has spoken out about the PGA Tour’s decision to allow Brooks Koepka back, questioning how the process was handled.

Koepka is set to return this week at the Farmers Insurance Open after leaving LIV Golf in December. The PGA Tour reinstated him under its new Returning Member Program, which includes financial penalties.

Ahead of the tournament, Matsuyama admitted the news surprised him.

“I was shocked to hear about it in the news. I thought, ‘He can come back…?’ He achieved results on LIV, so that’s probably why they took that measure,” Matsuyama told Golf Digest Japan.

The Masters champion said he has no problem with Koepka himself but was unhappy with the lack of communication from the Tour.

“I have nothing against the player himself. I actually think Brooks is pretty impressive for having the courage to make that decision [to terminate his LIV contract]. But I do question why the PGA Tour didn’t explain things to the players beforehand. At the very least, I wasn’t aware such a rule existed.”

He also pointed out to earlier warnings from the Tour that players who joined LIV would face longer bans.

“While there’s a financial hit, what about the non-monetary aspects? What happened to the idea that players who joined LIV couldn’t compete on the PGA Tour for a year… That’s what I’m more concerned about.”

Matsuyama’s comments carry weight as he was heavily linked with LIV Golf in 2022 but chose to stay with the PGA Tour despite huge reported offers.

Koepka was allowed back after agreeing to pay $5 million to charity and give up PGA Tour equity benefits for five years. The Tour estimates the move could cost him between $55 million and $90 million overall.

Despite leaving for LIV, Koepka continued to compete in all four major championships and now finds himself back on Tour just a few years later. The move has also opened the door for other LIV stars like Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith to potentially follow the same path.

Both Koepka and Matsuyama will be in the field this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.

When will Brooks Koepka and Hideki Matsuyama tee off in Round 1?

The Farmers Insurance Open gets underway on Thursday, February 29, at Torrey Pines, with both Brooks Koepka and Hideki Matsuyama set for afternoon tee times across the two courses.

Koepka will begin his opening round on the South Course from the 1st hole at 12:32 pm ET, playing alongside Ludvig Åberg and Max Homa. Matsuyama, meanwhile, will start on the North Course from the 10th hole at 1:38 pm ET, grouped with Justin Rose and Jason Day.

Here are the full Round 1 tee times:

Torrey Pines South Course – 1st Hole (ET)

• 12:10 pm: Chad Ramey, Denny McCarthy, Michael Thorbjornsen
• 12:21 pm: Si Woo Kim, Eric Cole, Max McGreevy
• 12:32 pm: Ludvig Åberg, Brooks Koepka, Max Homa
• 12:43 pm: Xander Schauffele, JJ Spaun, Harris English
• 12:54 pm: Matt Wallace, Andrew Putnam, Dylan Wu
• 1:05 pm: Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Johnny Keefer, Justin Hastings
• 1:16 pm: Seamus Power, Mackenzie Hughes, Lanto Griffin
• 1:27 pm: Joel Dahmen, Kevin Streelman, David Lipsky
• 1:38 pm: Cameron Young, Akshay Bhatia, Patrick Cantlay
• 1:49 pm: Tony Finau, Alex Noren, Marco Penge
• 2:00 pm: Emiliano Grillo, Gary Woodland, Chandler Phillips
• 2:11 pm: Jesper Svensson, AJ Ewart, Marcus Byrd

Torrey Pines South Course – 10th Hole (ET)

• 12:10 pm: Rafael Campos, Tom Hoge, Rasmus Hojgaard
• 12:21 pm: Erik van Rooyen, Nicolai Hojgaard, Rico Hoey
• 12:32 pm: Aldrich Potgieter, Kevin Yu, Taylor Pendrith
• 12:43 pm: William Mouw, Jhonattan Vegas, Cam Davis
• 12:54 pm: Brice Garnett, Sam Ryder, Hank Lebioda
• 1:05 pm: Dan Brown, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Chandler Blanchet
• 1:16 pm: Neal Shipley, Adrien Saddier, Hunter Logan
• 1:27 pm: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Thorbjorn Olesen, Takumi Kanaya
• 1:38 pm: Peter Malnati, Tom Kim, Matti Schmid
• 1:49 pm: Ryan Gerard, Andrew Novak, Matt McCarty
• 2:00 pm: Steven Fisk, Davis Riley, Aaron Wise
• 2:11 pm: Luke Clanton, Emilio Gonzalez, Pontus Nyholm
• 2:22 pm: Jordan Smith, Jeremy Paul, Davis Chatfield

Torrey Pines North Course – 1st Hole (ET)

• 12:10 pm: Doug Ghim, Max Greyserman, Mac Meissner
• 12:21 pm: Beau Hossler, Henrik Norlander, Ryo Hisatsune
• 12:32 pm: Adam Schenk, Garrick Higgo, Jake Knapp
• 12:43 pm: Karl Vilips, Stephan Jaeger, Matt Kuchar
• 12:54 pm: Jackson Suber, Zach Bauchou, Jeffrey Kang
• 1:05 pm: Alejandro Tosti, ST Lee, Thomas Rosenmueller
• 1:16 pm: Adam Svensson, Charley Hoffman, Kevin Roy
• 1:27 pm: Camilo Villegas, Patrick Rodgers, SH Kim
• 1:38 pm: Sami Valimaki, Davis Thompson, Billy Horschel
• 1:49 pm: Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Kensei Hirata, Gordon Sargent
• 2:00 pm: Zecheng Dou, John Parry, Marcelo Rozo
• 2:11 pm: Austin Smotherman, Isaiah Salinda, Mark Geddes

Torrey Pines North Course – 10th Hole (ET)

• 12:10 pm: Austin Eckroat, Lee Hodges, Justin Lower
• 12:21 pm: Sahith Theegala, Taylor Moore, Mark Hubbard
• 12:32 pm: Maverick McNealy, Wyndham Clark, Will Zalatoris
• 12:43 pm: Michael Brennan, Joe Highsmith, Aaron Rai
• 12:54 pm: Keita Nakajima, John VanDerLaan, Christo Lamprecht
• 1:05 pm: Patrick Fishburn, Haotong Li, Ricky Castillo
• 1:16 pm: Luke List, Sam Stevens, Danny Walker
• 1:27 pm: Keith Mitchell, Alex Smalley, Vince Whaley
• 1:38 pm: Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day
• 1:49 pm: Chris Gotterup, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott
• 2:00 pm: Matthieu Pavon, Brandt Snedeker, Kristoffer Reitan
• 2:11 pm: Pierceson Coody, Kris Ventura, David Ford

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