{"id":430699,"date":"2026-01-26T11:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T11:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/430699\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T11:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T11:16:10","slug":"brooks-koepkas-farmers-insurance-open-return-will-benefit-2-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/430699\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooks Koepka’s Farmers Insurance Open return will benefit 2 players"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brooks Koepka will make his PGA Tour return<\/a> at next week\u2019s Farmers Insurance Open<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The five-time major champion parted ways with LIV Golf<\/a> on Dec. 23, and officially returned to the PGA Tour via a new, limited-time pathway called the \u201cReturning Member Program\u201d<\/a> on Jan. 12. The PGA Tour already gave Koepka a spot in its latest commercial <\/a>and his tee time at Torrey Pines<\/a> next week will benefit two players who are not yet in the field. <\/p>\n

New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp had to walk a tightrope to bring Koepka back<\/a>. Rolapp\u2019s job was to find a way to bring Koepka back \u2014 thereby increasing the value of the PGA Tour \u2014 but to do so in a way that didn\u2019t upset the rank-and-file membership. As part of the \u201cReturning Member Program\u201d guidelines, Koepka will not take another player\u2019s spot in a field that he has committed to join. Instead, Koepka being in the field will add one or two spots to the field in order to make twosomes or threesomes work. <\/p>\n

So on Monday, the PGA Tour will add the first two alternates to the Farmers Insurance Field to make it an even 147 for threesomes. <\/p>\n

Note on the field:<\/p>\n

With Brooks Koepka competing in the Farmers Insurance Open, the field is currently 145 players. <\/p>\n

To round out threesomes, the field will be officially expanded to 147 as of Monday at noon PT, with the first two alternates at that time being added to the\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) January 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

As of this writing, Matt Kuchar and Justin Lower are the top two alternates. Taylor Moore and Joel Dahmen are Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. Should any player in the field withdraw ahead of the 12 p.m. PT Monday deadline, Kuchar and Lower would be the first players to slot into the open spots, and Moore and Dahmen would then move up the alternate list. <\/p>\n

To appease the membership, especially those outside the top 50 in the Official World Rankings, Koepka is also not eligible to receive a sponsor\u2019s invite to the big-money Signature Events. He can play his way into them via the Aon Next 10, Aon Swing 5 or by jumping into the top 30 in the OWGR. Koepka will also play the following week at the WM Phoenix Open, giving him two weeks to play his way into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. <\/p>\n

In the end, Koepka\u2019s return to the PGA Tour and the way Rolapp structured the pathway back were a win for the PGA Tour, its stars and the rank-and-file membership. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe get a probably top-three-of-his-generation player back that went to another tour,\u201d Tiger Woods said of Koepka\u2019s return. \u201c[He] played over there, and was adamant about coming back here and got out early to come back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat says a lot about the PGA Tour, where we\u2019re headed, what we have done, what we accomplished and the players who have stayed and who have supported the Tour. Having another world-class player that these guys are going to try and beat, that\u2019s what the fans demanded. That\u2019s what the fans wanted for our fan initiative program, and I think we\u2019ve addressed that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Rickie Fowler: \u201cI think it\u2019s great. I feel like Brooks has been in a position, he\u2019s wanted to be back playing with us for quite a while, so I\u2019m very happy that we\u2019re back in the position where we\u2019re at now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cReturning Members Program\u201d opened the door for Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith to return to the PGA Tour by Feb. 2, but all three have said they plan to remain on LIV Golf<\/a>. <\/p>\n

While those three will prepare for the Saudi-backed league\u2019s season to start in Riyadh on Feb. 4, Koepka will tee it up on the PGA Tour for the first time in three years next week at Torrey Pines. <\/p>\n

And his return will bring an added benefit for two players in Southern California next week. <\/p>\n