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Published Jun 12, 2026 • Last updated 10 hours ago • 4 minute read
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Brooks Koepka of the United States plays his shot from the sixth tee during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open 2026 at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon, Ontario. Photo by Vaughn Ridley /Getty ImagesArticle content
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CALEDON, Ont. — It’s no secret in golf that timing is everything, and Brooks Koepka is proving it.
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Since it’s RBC Canadian Open week, we will start this story on the golf course where the five-time major champion suddenly has found both a putter and a putting stroke that has him looking like the star we we’re used to seeing before he left for LIV Golf.
His return to the PGA Tour is looking more and more like a stroke of genius, but more on that in a minute.
Through two rounds at TPC Toronto, Koepka finds himself at eight-under par and firmly in contention. As he left the course midday after finishing his Friday round he had gained nearly seven strokes against the field on the greens, an amazing turnaround considering thus far his putter had been the Achilles heel of his PGA Tour return.
“The putting has been great,” he said following Friday’s 68. “I’m excited, and hopefully it continues this week.”
Koepka attributes the putting turnaround to a day in late May spent in his practice studio at his home in Jupiter, Fla., that includes nearly, if not all, the putters he has ever put into play.
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“Just in there putting and just went with what putters felt well. Trying to not have the (centre of gravity) more to the front so I can release the toe. More toe hang so it releases the toe. That’s been a huge thing.”
“There’s science behind it. I knew where I was going with it. But it was one that felt the best. I spent a bunch of time in there. I dropped my son off at school and was in there for about three-and-a-half hours, went and picked him up, and then went back to it.”
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Now 36 years old, but still cutting the familiar figure of golf’s brawny big-game hunter, Koepka can’t be blamed if he has one eye on his next destination, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in New York, where he won his second of back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2018.
“We’ve got a big one next week, so the game better be sharp,” he said.
Koepka has plenty to play for this week in Canada, as he continues what could be seen by some to be a slightly humbling climb back to his proper place on the PGA Tour.
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Koepka was re-instated by the PGA Tour in January after leaving his reported five-year, $100-million contract with LIV Golf a year early. He re-joined as part of an extremely narrowly defined “Returning Member Program” that allowed back “players who have been away from the tour for at least two years and have won the Players Championship, Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open or the Open Championship during the 2022-2025 seasons.”
Only Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith qualified for the program. He was the only player who took the PGA Tour up on the offer which came with strings attached, including being ineligible for FedEx Cup bonus money and the tour’s equity program for five years. He also agreed to make a $5-million donation to charity with half going to charities chosen by existing tour members.
It also meant Koepka has to earn his way back into the tour’s upper echelon Signature Events, something he could do with a win this week.
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While other top players — perhaps including some previously mentioned — might have seen this path as beneath them, Koepka has carried himself with dignity and a familiar stoicism as he teed it up at the opposite field Myrtle Beach Classic, or as he waited for a chance to play that never came as the first alternate at Doral for the elevated Cadillac Championship.
LIV Tour players left in limbo?
That deal, fair or unfair, is now off the table. There is presently no clearly defined path back to the PGA Tour for LIV players, which is something that is looking increasingly important as the breakaway tour continues its apparent death spiral. The latest reports have the final two events of this season in jeopardy as LIV Golf awaits final payments of $400 million from the Saudis, who have already decided to sever financial ties with the league at year’s end.
All of this leaves stars such as Rahm and DeChambeau and dozens of other players in a precarious position. Whatever leverage LIV golfers thought they had disappeared faster than wire transfers from PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan. The difference between Koepka and his former LIV Golf colleagues is he made the choice to leave, the same can’t and won’t be said for the next group looking to return and PGA Tour members will remember that when terms are negotiated.
Koepka has never shown an interest in playing the victim, something that likely has enabled a rather seamless return to the tour he jilted four years ago.
“I’ve enjoyed it. I think the players have been very receptive,” Koepka said of his return. “I haven’t heard (anything negative), at least nobody said it to my face about anything. A lot of, ‘We’re glad you’re back.’ “
Don’t expect the reception of the next batch of returning LIV players to be equally welcomed, as Koepka’s timing, and actions, have earned him some grace.
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