Brooks Koepka has left LIV Golf to re-join the PGA Tour. While the move is garnering mixed reactions from across the golf world, the Saudi-backed series’ CEO Scott O’Neil is fully backing the player decision.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, O’Neil claimed that he was happy for the five-time major champion. The LIV CEO, who replaced Greg Norman at the series’ helm, stated that his League wasn’t ‘where Koepka wanted to be.’ Furthermore, the executive revealed that he had a conversation with Koepka on Friday “just to put things in perspective.” He called himself the newest PGA Tour star’s ‘biggest cheerleader.’
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said on Wednesday during a leadership panel at the breakaway league’s kick-off event, as quoted by Golf:
“I don’t think this was where he (Brooks Koepka) wanted to be. He talked about some of the challenges publicly, as did his wife, and I want people in the room that are going to wrap their arms around us and say, this is what I want…If guys don’t want to be here, that’s okay with me…
Actually, I love Brooks. I root for Brooks. I am hoping the best for him and his family. If this is what he wants, there will be no better cheerleader for him than me. I’ll tell you what, good for him if he’s getting what he wants and we get what we want. I’m absolutely-I couldn’t be happier for him and for us.”
It is pertinent to note that LIV stars like Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Cameron Smith are eligible to follow Koepka to the PGA Tour via the circuit’s new Returning Members Program. However, the trio have decided to stay on the breakaway circuit in 2026.
Brooks Koepka lauds PGA Tour after exit from LIV Golf
The PGA Tour confirmed Brooks Koepka’s reinstatement earlier this week. According to the circuit’s memo, the nine-time Tour champion is making his comeback via the Returning Member Program, which allows any LIV player who has won a major between 2022-2025 to rejoin the American circuit. Interestingly, the 35-year-old also accepted a penalty of $5 million to complete the move.
Apart from the financial penalty, the ace golfer also signed a five-year forfeiture of potential equity in the tour’s Player Equity Program. Despite dubbing the penalty a “harsh punishment,” Koepka went on to laud the circuit. The former Smash GC skipper, who reportedly met PGA CEO Brian Rolapp at the Tour HQ in Ponte Vedra last Friday, said he ‘understood why the tour’ imposed the penalty.
He further claimed being excited to return to the PGA Tour.
Brooks Koepka said in a statement posted on X:
“When I was a child, I always dreamed about competing on the PGA Tour, and I am just as excited today to announce that I am returning to the PGA Tour… Being closer to home and spending more time with my family makes this opportunity especially meaningful to me. I believe in where the PGA Tour is headed with new leadership, new investors, and an equity program that gives players a meaningful ownership stake.”
According to reports, Koepka is set to play at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California on January 29 and follow it up with a WM Phoenix Open appearance at TPC Scottsdale in February.
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