Brooks Koepka Reveals the First Phone Call He Made When Debating PGA Tour Return

The former LIV Golf member is back on Tour this week at the Farmers Insurance Open, where shared how he reached his decision to return.

On Tuesday at the Farmers Insurance Open, Brooks Koepka met with the media for the first time since leaving LIV Golf and returning to the PGA Tour. | Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images

SAN DIEGO — After announcing that he would be leaving LIV Golf and later reapplying for reinstatement to the PGA Tour, Brooks Koepka’s first call went to …. Tiger Woods.

The 15-time major winner who has taken on a big role in PGA Tour governance over the past few years had been highly critical of LIV Golf at the beginning of its existence but worked behind the scenes with the Tour hierarchy and boards to quickly bring back the five-time major champion, who makes his 2026 PGA Tour debut at the Farmers Insurance Open.

“I’ve always had a good relationship with Tiger and I felt like that was what I wanted to do,” Koepka said Tuesday morning during a news conference at Torrey Pines. “Once I had the opportunity to, I guess, get reinstated on the PGA Tour, it was exciting and I kind of didn’t really know what to do.

“Tiger was the first person who came to mind. I didn’t know [PGA Tour CEO] Brian [Rolapp], I didn’t have a relationship with him obviously just because he’s pretty new. [Commissioner] Jay [Monahan] was going to be the next call.

“But I felt like Tiger was somebody that I have relied on in the past for questions and answers, and how to deal with things. I felt like that would be the most comfortable call for me.”

The last several months have not been the most comfortable time for Koepka, who suffered through perhaps his worst season on the course as a pro and also had several off-course challenges, which he referenced.

Although he did not go into detail about it, Koepka’s wife, Jena, announced via social media in October that she had suffered a miscarriage. Koepka did not speak to that specifically on Tuesday, but he made his family the focus of his return to the PGA Tour after four years of LIV Golf.

“A lot’s gone on over the past five, six months with my family,” Koepka said. “That played a big role into coming back. Then just having conversations with my wife, my team and being able to make that decision to come back was—I guess tough conversations, but it was what was best for me and best for my family. I think that was a decision that my wife, myself, everybody, my team thought that that was best as well.”

Koepka’s return carries stipulations

It all happened quickly. Koepka and LIV Golf announced on Dec. 23 that they had “amicably” agreed to part ways. On Jan. 9, Koepka applied for reinstatement to the PGA Tour and on Jan. 12 his application was granted, with stipulations.

He is required to pay a $5 million fine that will go to charity, he won’t be eligible for PGA Tour equity grants for five years, he won’t be able to reap any FedEx Cup bonus money this year, and he is ineligible to get sponsor invites to the signature events.

“There are opinions from both sides,” Woods said Jan. 13 when asked about Koepka’s return. “We’re not going to satisfy everyone. We know that. But the whole idea is to make our Tour better than what it was. With Brooks’s addition to the Tour, it does. It makes it a better place to play.”

Koepka was complimentary of LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil and the governor of the Public Investment Fund, Yasir Al Rumayyan, but would not disclose if there were any financial penalties or conditions for being released from his LIV Golf contract.

In 2022, Koepka joined LIV after its first event, inked a deal reportedly in excess of $100 million, which was believed to be a signing bonus. During his four-year tenure, Koepka won five times and amassed some $45 million in prize money.

But last year he failed to win and was 31st in LIV’s season-long individual points standings. He tied for 12th at the U.S. Open but missed the cut in the other three majors.

Koepka did not attribute his poor play to LIV Golf. In fact, he gave the league a boost in 2023 when he won the PGA Championship, his fifth major title. And he was the first player to amass five victories as part of the league.

Brooks Koepka gave LIV Golf a boost when he won the 2023 PGA Championship. | Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

But since that win at Oak Hill three years ago, Koepka has failed to crack the top 10 in a major championship.

At last year’s U.S. Open, Koepka said he was struggling so much that he had to apologize to members of his team. “I wouldn’t have wanted to be around me.”

On Tuesday, Koepka simply said: “I was going through a lot of things. I didn’t talk about it, but yeah, it was definitely more of a difficult family situation with what was going on. There’s a lot of things going on. Sometimes that can I guess relate to play a little bit. I don’t know if that's what it was. I don’t know, I don't really have an answer for that, but I know sometimes when your mind's free, I think you look at Scottie [Scheffler] right now, when your mind's free, sometimes it's easier to go play golf and play your best.”

Koepka said he’s had a lot of positive feedback and text messages from other players but doesn’t expect all to welcome him back.

One aspect that will help is he is not taking a spot from anyone in any tournament he plays. He has been added to the field, along with other alternates to round out the group.

“Not everybody’s going to have the same opinion, that’s the exciting part about this, right?” Koepka said. “There are some guys that are happy to see me back and some guys that won’t and I understand that. Like I said, that will be the fun part of having those conversations. Some of them might be tougher than others, but at the same time it’s the opportunity I was given and I think anybody that I guess is in my shoes that has the opportunity to come back and the position that I was in, I was going to take it. I wasn’t just going to not play. If they gave me an opportunity to play, I wanted to play.”

Where Koepka may play next

After this week, Koepka is scheduled to play next week’s WM Phoenix Open. He’s not currently eligible for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am or the Genesis Invitational, so he has entered the Cognizant Classic in late February. He’s also exempt for the Players Championship, which he said he will play.

He admitted to being nervous about Tuesday’s news conference and wanted to get on with playing golf this week. The last time he played in a regular PGA Tour event was at the 2022 WGC-Dell Match Play, an event that no longer exists.

As for his time at LIV Golf, Koepka said he has no regrets.

“I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed the ride no matter where I’m at. I think that’s one thing that’s—you also learn from anything, anything you’re doing, so I have no regrets. But at the same time, I’m excited for this new chapter, grateful to be out here. For Brian Rolapp, Jay, Tiger, everybody that was able to get me out here, I’m super grateful for it and I’m excited.”