First start already at the Farmers, Vijay Singh ready for a comeback, Charley Hull launching a YouTube channel. The Back Nine.
As expected, Brooks Koepka has withdrawn from the 2026 LIV Golf season starting February 7 in Riyadh; the five-time major winner remains connected to the competing circuit but needs more family time. LIV CEO Scott McNeil said it was an amicable agreement. Koepka is a competitive type who gets motivated by top-level competition, which he only partially found in LIV. He initially joined the Saudi-backed circuit in 2022 due to injury doubts and to secure a solid retirement payout. His skipping the last contractual season raises questions: did he have to buy out or return part of his guaranteed salary? Does the 35-year-old still own LIV team Smash GC, now captained by Talor Gooch?
Speculations abound on where Koepka will play next—DP World Tour, where he’d be eligible immediately, possibly with a penalty; or PGA Tour, where he’d face a one-year suspension since his last LIV event, following softened lifetime bans by former Commissioner Jay Monahan. Why be vindictive when every returning LIV player benefits the stronger tour? ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reports Koepka formally applied last Friday to reactivate his PGA Tour membership, which expired after 2022.
Any suspension would end in August, coinciding with the 2026 season finale at the Tour Championship (August 27–30). Koepka would be eligible for 2027 play under the PGA Tour’s new schedule featuring about two dozen $20 million tournaments with limited elite fields. A perfect return timing, fitting Koepka’s style, and welcomed by investors in PGA Tour Enterprises. Jon Rahm recently stated on the ‘Subpar’ podcast that Koepka might play minimal events but likely the big ones. He might even get leniency from the PGA Tour leadership, including Tiger Woods’ competition committee, following Rory McIlroy’s recommendation to let Koepka play.
Update: It happened just like that. On Monday evening (local time), news spread rapidly that Koepka is immediately eligible to play on the PGA Tour and will tee off at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January at Torrey Pines. His participation in the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale is also confirmed.
This is enabled by the newly created ‘Returning Member Program,’ allowing select LIV players to rejoin the PGA Tour without suspension, considering Koepka’s sporting merits, especially his 2023 PGA Championship major win.
The PGA Tour states the special rule applies to majors and Players winners over the last three years, expiring February 2. CEO Brian Rolapp said this is a one-time opportunity with no guarantee of recurrence, a fact likely to concern Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Cam Smith, and stir unease in the LIV Golf league.
Koepka’s penalty for crossing over is mild: a $5 million donation to PGA Tour charity