Rory McIlroy has suggested the balance of power in men’s professional golf is shifting even further towards the PGA Tour again as Brooks Koepka prepares to make his second debut on the historic US circuit after agreeing to several restrictive terms.
The five-time Major champion will tee off alongside Ludvig Aberg and Max Homa in the first two rounds as ESPN broadcasts three hours of live PGA Tour action for the first time in almost 20 years.
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But in order for the aforementioned appearance to have even happened in the first place, Koepka had to agree to the terms of the PGA Tour’s Returning Member Program.
Among the restrictions – which Koepka called “harsh” – includes the fact he is ineligible for any part of the the Player Equity Program until 2030, he is not allowed to earn any FedEx Cup bonus money and he has been required to make a $5 million charitable donation to a recipient of his and the PGA Tour’s choice.
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Speaking after Boston Common’s 9-1 thrashing of The Bay in TGL on Monday night, McIlroy stated his fellow five-time Major winner would never have agreed to those terms if he wasn’t absolutely committed to returning to “the highest level.”
Asked what Koepka’s return means to the PGA Tour, McIlroy said: “Yeah, I think it says more about Brooks than anything else.
“He obviously is a very competitive person and wants to compete at the highest level. I think he made the decision that he thought competing at the highest level meant coming back to the PGA Tour.”
Although Koepka is the only player to have officially made his return from LIV, Patrick Reed has twice suggested he would be open to coming back over to the PGA Tour during the past week or so.
Ahead of the Dubai Desert Classic, the 2018 Masters champion admitted he would consider a return if offered the same terms as Koepka – terms which only apply to Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith currently.
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Rory McIlroy after tonight’s TGL match: “You’ve seen others say this recently. Patrick Reed said it in Dubai last week. It seems like some of those guys are maybe starting to realize that they’re not getting everything that they wanted out of going over (to LIV), and that’s… pic.twitter.com/AnIogEqYtOJanuary 27, 2026
Reed then shared he was technically still a free agent due to having yet to sign a new LIV Golf contract before going on to admit that if he didn’t play LIV then he would compete on the DP World Tour and earn his PGA Tour status back by trying to finish in the Race To Dubai’s leading 10 non-exempt pros.
Continuing on, McIlroy said he believes Reed – and potentially others – having their head turned shows where the PGA Tour stands compared to its PIF-backed rival.
McIlroy said: “You’ve seen others say this recently. Patrick Reed said it in Dubai last week.
“It seems like some of those guys are maybe starting to realise that they’re not getting everything that they wanted out of going over there, and that’s obviously a great thing for the PGA Tour.”