{"id":446628,"date":"2026-02-03T13:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/446628\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T13:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:51:11","slug":"brooks-koepka-shares-details-on-his-release-from-liv-and-return-to-pga-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/446628\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooks Koepka shares details on his release from LIV and return to PGA Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

LA JOLLA, Calif. \u2014 Brooks Koepka\u2019s journey back to the PGA Tour began in heartbreak.<\/p>\n

In September, while Koepka and his wife, Jena Sims, were in New York, she experienced a miscarriage at 16 weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen that\u2019s when I guess things started to change and evolve and just started to have those conversations of what\u2019s best for my family,\u201d Koepka said Tuesday in San Diego before his return to the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

After \u201camicable\u201d discussions with LIV CEO Scott O\u2019Neil and Saudi Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Koepka was released from his contract on Dec. 23, 2025. While Koepka did not disclose any details of how he exited his deal with LIV, he quickly said he\u2019s \u201csuper grateful\u201d for how LIV handled the situation.<\/p>\n

Shortly after his release from LIV, the first person he called was Tiger Woods. Koepka said he hadn\u2019t established a relationship with new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, so he went to Woods. Woods has become one of the most powerful figures behind the scenes of professional golf, serving as a PGA Tour policy board player director and vice chairman of the newly formed PGA Tour Enterprises.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like Tiger was somebody that I\u2019ve relied on in the past for questions and answers and how to deal with things, and I felt like that was maybe the most comfortable call for me,\u201d Koepka said.<\/p>\n

When Koepka announced his departure from LIV on Dec. 23<\/a>, he and LIV both cited his family as the primary reason. Koepka\u2019s representatives said in a statement: \u201cFamily has always guided Brooks\u2019s decisions, and he feels this is the right moment to spend more time at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

While most respected his privacy and let it remain ambiguous, Sims announced in October via Instagram that she experienced a pregnancy loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 16 weeks, we learned that our baby\u2019s heart had stopped beating,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThis is a grief no parent is ever prepared for. We are devastated, but remain hopeful to give Crew a sibling one day.\u201d The couple\u2019s son, Crew, is 2 1\/2.<\/p>\n

Multiple times throughout Tuesday\u2019s news conference, Koepka spoke about the importance of having his family at events. For example, Jena and Crew will be in San Diego this week for the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the ability to have my family out all the time,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that was one thing because they didn\u2019t travel too much over the last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the players who left for LIV in 2022 cited family as the reason for their departure from the PGA Tour. Stars like Dustin Johnson said, \u201cFor me, it was playing less, making more money. Pretty simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, by 2025, LIV played eight of 14 events outside the United States, traveling across the globe to places like Singapore, Korea, Australia and Saudi Arabia, among others. In 2026, nine tournaments will be outside the U.S.<\/p>\n

That is on top of LIV players often needing to play on the European DP World Tour or other foreign tours to maintain OWGR points or keep Ryder Cup status. Koepka played four tournaments in Europe last fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust having my family around\u2019s really important,\u201d he reiterated. \u201cI\u2019ve grown up a lot over the last few years, and especially the last few months. Just being able to be close to them is super important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koepka was able to return via the Returning Member Program that was created by the PGA Tour<\/a> and swiftly formalized as a plan to lure Koepka and other top stars back. The offer \u2014 with an aggressive Feb. 2 deadline \u2014 is available only to golfers who competed outside the PGA Tour for at least two years and won a major championship or the Players Championship during the 2022-2025 seasons.<\/p>\n

In addition to Koepka, the other three eligible players are Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith. There have been no indications that any of them are planning to accept, and Koepka said no players have asked him about taking the offer.<\/p>\n

When asked if he thinks the PGA Tour should open the door to more players, he joked: \u201cI\u2019m two days back into this. I\u2019m not trying to get into the politics of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

In exchange for being able to return without a suspension, Koepka (and anyone else who accepts the offer) will make a $5 million charity donation, not receive any share of 2026 FedEx Cup money and will not be eligible for the PGA Tour\u2019s player equity program until 2031. According to PGA Tour projections, Koepka could have been eligible for between $51 million and $85 million. On the other hand, Koepka accepted north of $100 million to join LIV.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Koepka will not be eligible for any signature events (such as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am or the Genesis Invitational) unless he qualifies via results. He is making his debut this week at the Farmers Insurance Open before going to Phoenix for the Waste Management Open.<\/p>\n

Koepka left the PGA Tour to join LIV during the mass exodus of 2022, perhaps the most surprising addition of the initial wave. At the time, he was a four-time major winner struggling on the course while dealing with knee injuries.<\/p>\n

However, shortly after joining LIV, he regained health and went on a resurgence. He finished T2 at the 2023 Masters and won the PGA Championship a month later for his fifth major.<\/p>\n

In the two years since, Koepka has regressed. At 35, he finished inside the top 25 of one of his last eight majors. Even on LIV, Koepka had only two top 10 finishes in 2025. He currently ranks No. 162 in the world on DataGolf.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t regret anything I do,\u201d Koepka said. \u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot. I\u2019ve always enjoyed the ride, no matter where I\u2019m at. I think that\u2019s one thing that\u2019s \u2014 you also learn from anything, anything you\u2019re doing, so I have no regrets.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LA JOLLA, Calif. \u2014 Brooks Koepka\u2019s journey back to the PGA Tour began in heartbreak. In September, while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-446628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}