{"id":398357,"date":"2026-01-07T21:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/398357\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T21:37:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:37:20","slug":"a-liv-golfers-staggering-suspension-may-be-a-clue-to-brooks-koepkas-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/398357\/","title":{"rendered":"A LIV Golfer\u2019s Staggering Suspension May Be a Clue to Brooks Koepka\u2019s Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brooks Koepka\u2019s return to competitive golf\u2014when and where\u2014will understandably be among the early-2026 storylines in professional golf.<\/p>\n

The five-time major champion who last month announced an \u201camicable\u201d split with the LIV Golf League <\/a>has so far remained mum about his intentions for 2026, which could be as simple as playing only the major championships.<\/p>\n

While that is certainly possible, it also seems unlikely. Koepka is going to want to play at least a little beyond that, right? Perhaps the DP World Tour offers a landing spot, and if he doesn\u2019t rejoin that Tour, he could accept sponsor invites.<\/p>\n

Most speculation centers on a return to the PGA Tour, and there\u2019s been an erroneous narrative put forth that Koepka is subject to a one-year ban from the time he played his last LIV Golf event, which was in August.<\/p>\n

While that is possible, Koepka\u2019s \u201cpunishment\u201d is not that definitive.<\/p>\n

Sign Up Now. SI Golf Newsletters. Sports Illustrated\u2019s Free Golf Newsletters. dark<\/p>\n

The issue stems from the Tour\u2019s one-year ban levied against players who never had PGA Tour status, the best example being Englishman Laurie Canter, who after playing for LIV Golf competed at the 2025 Players Championship. Others who competed in LIV Golf events, and those who are competing in this week\u2019s Promotions event in Florida, were made aware that they could not compete in any PGA Tour-sanctioned event\u2014including Monday qualifiers and Q-Schools\u2014for a minimum of a year.<\/p>\n

That has led to an assumption that a one-year ban applies to all players, which is apparently not the case. The difference? Those who had PGA Tour status before playing LIV events.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s really no clarity on that,\u201d said three-time PGA Tour winner Hudson Swafford, who played for LIV Golf from 2022\u201324. \u201cThe PGA Tour can really do whatever they want. I do think they will do some picking and choosing going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swafford, 38, knows a little bit about it. He has sought clarification on his own situation and been told he is ineligible to compete again until 2027<\/a>\u2014even though his last event for LIV Golf was in August 2024.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Swafford\u2014who has battled numerous injuries and missed most of the 2023 season before being relegated following the 2024 season\u2014said he was told he was receiving a one-year ban dating to 2022 for each of the five events he played that year for LIV Golf that conflicted with regular PGA Tour events for which he was eligible before the FedEx Cup playoffs.<\/p>\n

(By that guideline, Koepka would be eligible in 2026 because he, too, began playing LIV Golf in 2022 but played one less event than Swafford.)<\/p>\n

That five-year ban, he said, lasts into next year. The PGA Tour does not comment on disciplinary matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am suspended until 2027,\u201d he said. \u201cI can re-enroll as a member but obviously the [proposed] shrinking of the PGA Tour schedule, closing it out to more members\u2014and I totally understand it\u2014it\u2019s going to be hard playing out of the past champions [category]. But I get it, it\u2019s a new PGA Tour, for-profit entity and we\u2019ve been trying to get an offseason for a long time. Something has to give and so the uncertainty is tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Brooks<\/p>\n

When Brooks Koepka may return to the PGA Tour remains unclear but Hudson Swafford suggests the five-time major champion could sit out all of 2026. \/ Aaron Doster-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Swafford has been working in a real estate venture and says his game is not in a place to be competitive now. He plans to work on it and will consider returning next year, knowing his status will be limited. He believes he would not even be able to attend the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament until the fall of next year.<\/p>\n

As for Koepka, Swafford said he believes his situation could be treated differently although he doesn\u2019t discount the idea that he sits out the entire year\u2014with 2027 being the benchmark \u201cfor anyone to come back if they are eligible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he believes his lawsuit against the PGA Tour in 2022<\/a>\u2014along with Talor Gooch and Matt Jones, he sought a restraining order that would have allowed him to compete in the FedEx Cup playoffs for which he was otherwise eligible\u2014might have had an impact on his penalties, Swafford said he doesn\u2019t discount it but was not told that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe filed a temporary restraining order; I wasn\u2019t suing the Tour for monetary purposes,\u201d he said. \u201cI had to file to try and legally play in the playoffs. Once that got denied, I dropped out of the lawsuit. I was never trying to cause harm to the PGA Tour. I backed out completely. I\u2019m sure there is something there that maybe they added time but I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it was just they saw that there are certain people\u2019s contracts like Brooks or Bryson [DeChambeau] or a handful of guys who they would love to have back and maybe that was their hard stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tour has acknowledged that Koepka would first have to reapply for membership, at which point the PGA Tour Policy Board and the Future Competitions Committee will likely get involved. How the PGA Tour responds publicly will be eagerly awaited.<\/p>\n

As for Swafford, he\u2019s unclear as to his golf future. He was on his way to meeting with his instructor before being interviewed, although he doesn\u2019t expect to attempt any competitive golf for months. \u201cMy game isn\u2019t ready,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I won\u2019t close the door on pro golf opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swafford is as curious as many as to how all of it will play out. He made the move to LIV, dealt with considerable blowback, and played injured for much of his time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough. I definitely lost some friendships and some friendships changed for sure,\u201d he said of his 2022 decision. \u201cSome people I\u2019m still not very close with. But time heals. Some guys I\u2019ve rekindled relationships and I really don\u2019t think there is any backlash now. Everyone has moved on. Players play where they want to play and make decisions in their best interest. And especially when you see how much money the PGA Tour is playing for now.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Golf from Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brooks Koepka\u2019s return to competitive golf\u2014when and where\u2014will understandably be among the early-2026 storylines in professional golf. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-398357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}