Brooks Koepka applied for reinstatement with the PGA Tour on Friday just weeks after departing LIV Golf, according to multiple reports.
The five-time major winner announced on Dec. 23 that he was “amicably” parting ways with the Saudi-backed league despite having a year remaining on his contract. That immediately spurred speculation that Koepka would seek to return to the PGA Tour, where the 35-year-old did not renew his membership before the 2022-23 season, according to ESPN.
It’s unknown what punishment the nine-time PGA Tour winner may have to serve before being allowed to return.
Players must be one year removed from their most recent LIV event in order to be eligible to play in a PGA Tour event, per a tour rule instituted in the wake of several marquee players defecting in 2022. Koepka, who is eligible to compete in all four majors this year courtesy of his win at the 2023 PGA Championship, last played in a LIV event on Aug. 24 in Michigan.
However, Koepka is the biggest name yet by far to seek reinstatement to the tour after defecting to LIV and his reinstatement request will test the tour’s current sentiment toward allowing players to return.
The PGA Tour could offer an exemption, but did not offer any hints in its statement following Koepka’s official split from LIV.
“Brooks Koepka is a highly accomplished professional, and we wish him and his family continued success,” the tour’s statement read. “The PGA Tour continues to offer the best professional golfers the most competitive, challenging and lucrative environment in which to pursue greatness.”
According to a report by Golf Digest, the decision on Koepka’s reinstatement will be made by new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp. He is expected to listen to input from his Future Competition Committee headed by Tiger Woods, along with the tour’s policy board.
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, one of the most vocal LIV critics over the past four-plus years, said last week that he would now welcome players back.
“I think they’ve already paid their consequence. They’ve made the money but they’ve paid their consequence in terms of the reputation and some of the things they’ve lost by going over there,” McIlroy said in an appearance on “The Overlap” podcast. “If it made the overall tour stronger to have Bryson DeChambeau back and whoever else, I would be okay with it.
“But it’s not just me, and I recognize that not everyone is in my position. It would be up to the collective group of PGA Tour members to make that decision.”
Koepka signed a four-year deal with LIV reportedly worth upwards of $100 million, but rumors began to emerge early last year that he was interested in returning to the PGA Tour. Koepka was a team captain, but did not wear LIV’s team outfits and was often critical of the league’s format and inability to gain better traction with golf fans.
Koepka has plummeted to No. 244 in the Official World Golf Ranking, having missed the cut in three of the four majors last year and with LIV players not earning points for league events. He played in four DP World Tour events following the end of the LIV Golf season, missing two cuts before a solo fourth place at the Open de France and a T15 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October — Koepka’s most recent competition worldwide.
He has not played in a PGA Tour event since a tie for 12th at the 2022 Valspar Championship.
“We have amicably and mutually agreed that Brooks Koepka will no longer compete in the LIV Golf League, following the 2025 season,” LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement on Dec. 23. “Brooks is prioritizing the needs of his family and staying closer to home.”
More than two weeks later, it also appears he is prioritizing trying to return to the PGA Tour.
–Field Level Media
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