{"id":406036,"date":"2026-01-13T07:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T07:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/406036\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T07:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T07:03:14","slug":"brooks-koepka-speaks-ive-got-a-lot-of-work-to-do-with-some-of-the-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/406036\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooks Koepka speaks: ‘I\u2019ve got a lot of work to do with some of the players’"},"content":{"rendered":"

HONOLULU \u2014 Brooks Koepka is expecting a nervous energy when he returns to a regular PGA Tour event for the first time in four years at the Farmers Insurance Open. Only some of that pertains to his golf.<\/p>\n

How he is received \u2014 inside and outside the ropes \u2014 remains to be seen as the first player to be invited back to the PGA Tour after taking at Saudi riches to defect to LIV Golf in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of work to do with some of the players,\u201d Koepka said in a telephone interview Monday. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely guys who are happy, and definitely guys who will be angry. It\u2019s a harsh punishment financially. I understand exactly why the tour did that \u2014 it\u2019s meant to hurt. But it (his departure) hurt a lot of people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone is upset, I need to rebuild those relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koepka was allowed back under a one-time Returning Member Program the PGA Tour board developed and approved last week. It applies only to players who have won a major or The Players Championship since 2022<\/p>\n

The penalty is a $5 million contribution to a charity the tour will help decide, no access to FedExCup bonus money in 2026, no sponsor exemptions to the $20 million signature events and, most importantly, no equity grants in the tour for the next five years.<\/p>\n

The tour estimates based on Koepka performing at the level allowed to win five majors, the financial repercussions could be worth anywhere from $50 million to $85 million.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Alfred<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

PGA Tour announces Returning Member Program based on \u201celite-performance based criteria.\u201d This paves the way back for specific LIV Golf players, including Brooks Koepka.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no negotiating,\u201d Koepka said about his conversation last week with Brian Rolapp, the CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises. \u201cIt\u2019s meant to hurt, it does hurt, but I understand. It\u2019s not supposed to be an easy path. There\u2019s a lot of people that were hurt by it when I left, and I understand that\u2019s part of coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those not happy to see him return, Koepka said he looks forward to have private conversations outside the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first week I\u2019ll be a little bit nervous,\u201d Koepka said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot going on than just golf. I\u2019ll be glad to put the first week behind me \u2014 dealing with the media, dealing with the players, and then getting some of those tougher conversations. But I\u2019m looking forward to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAm I nervous? Yes. Am I excited? Yes. In a weird way, I want to have those conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan Spieth said Koepka just needed to be the same person who left.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not going to ask somebody to change to please other people,\u201d Spieth said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he needs to play Monday pro-ams or walk along the range and shake everyone\u2019s and say, \u2018I\u2019m sorry.\u2019 He just comes back and plays really good golf. That\u2019s good for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board, led by a majority of players, signed off the plan. Koepka talked with Rolapp by phone on Thursday evening, and he was at PGA Tour headquarters the next morning unaccompanied. He came in through a side entrance.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old Koepka, who is exempt the next three years from his 2023 victory in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, will return at Torrey Pines on Jan. 29. He also said he would play the WM Phoenix Open, where he won his first PGA Tour title in 2015 and won again in 2021.<\/p>\n

That might provide the first real test of how the public feels \u2014 Saturday afternoon on the 16th hole of the TPC Scottsdale, the rowdiest in golf even for players the fans don\u2019t really know.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can handle it,\u201d Koepka said. \u201cI enjoy the crowd, and hopefully everybody is happy to see me. They can\u2019t be mad at me forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hoggard: Rolapp ‘flexing’ with PGA Tour return program<\/p>\n

GolfChannel.com senior writer Rex Hoggard joins “Golf Today” to talk about the PGA Tour’s new return program that will allow Brooks Koepka and possibly others to come back.<\/p>\n

So why the change?<\/p>\n

Word first began to circulate in November that negotiations between Koepka and LIV Golf \u2014 he had one year left on his contract \u2014 were not going well. He had publicly complained last summer that LIV was not as far along as he would have liked.<\/p>\n

And then Dec. 23 came the announcement from LIV of an \u201camicable\u201d split, and Koepka reapplied for PGA Tour membership.<\/p>\n

Koepka cited a knee injury that has taken a toll on his body and the desire to spend more time with his family as the reason to join LIV. He cited the need to spend more time at home when he left LIV, particularly after his wife had a miscarriage last fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI needed to be there with my family over the last few months. I needed to be closer to home,\u201d Koepka said. \u201cI was able to get out of the LIV contract, everything lined up perfectly and I was able to get back on tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy and grateful it was able to come to this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Koepka has not spoken publicly about how much he was offered to play for LIV, except for saying it was nine figures on a 2023 podcast with boxer Jake Paul. Also unclear was how much he had to pay back by leaving one year early.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s about playing again on familiar turf with players he only saw four times a year at the majors. He is close with several players who live in South Florida. Others he will see for the first time in the locker room, on the range, on the first tee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s probably a mixed bag of, \u2018We\u2019re happy you\u2019re back, welcome home\u2019 to \u2018You shouldn\u2019t be here.\u2019 I understand everybody\u2019s point of view,\u201d he said. \u201cI was going to be sitting out possibly a year, and I\u2019m extremely thankful the tour gave me this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HONOLULU \u2014 Brooks Koepka is expecting a nervous energy when he returns to a regular PGA Tour event…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-406036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}