Brooks Koepka Will Return to the PGA Tour This Month, With Restrictions

The five-time major winner who left LIV Golf will return to the PGA Tour later this month but with several financial penalties including a $5 million fine.

Brooks Koepka is expected to make his PGA Tour return later this month at the Farmers Insurance Open. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Brooks Koepka’s wait to return to the PGA Tour will be a short one but will come with restrictions, including the inability to get sponsor invites to signature events, no Tour equity for five years, no FedEx Cup bonus money this year and a $5 million fine.

Koepka, a five-time major champion who last month announced he was ending his association with the LIV Golf League under an “amicable” parting, reapplied last week for Tour membership and a Tour release Monday said it has been granted.

He is expected to return later this month at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and also play the WM Phoenix Open. Unless he qualifies, he will be unable to play the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am or the Genesis Invitational, which are elevated signature events.

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The Tour is calling this the “Returning Member Program” and making it available only to four players: Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith. They are the LIV Golf players who have won a major championship or a Players Championship since 2022. Only players who have won those tournaments and been away from the Tour for at least two years are eligible.

Those players are only eligible to apply for reinstatement until Feb. 2 for the 2026 season.

“Other eligible players interested in seeking PGA Tour reinstatement must do so by the time the Returning Member Program closes on Monday, February 2,” PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said in a statement. “This is a one-time, defined window and does not set a precedent for future situations. Once the door closes, there is no promise that this path will be available again.”

Rolapp said research indicated that fans wanted the best players in the world competing together more often and the return plan was a culmination of player and board input.

What happens if Koepka qualifies for a signature event

If Koepka qualifies for a signature event or one of the three FedEx Cup playoff events, he will not keep another player from competing. A spot will be added to the fields. At tournaments such as the Farmers Insurance Open and the WM Phoenix Open, the Tour will add alternates in addition to Koepka in order to round out the field.

Koepka will not be able to earn any bonus money at the first two playoff events—which is paid in addition to the purse—the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship.

If he makes the Tour Championship, he will be able to compete for the $40 million purse.

“The penalty is significant but I understand why they’ve done it. It hurts but it’s supposed to,” Koepka told Golfweek on Monday. “I’ve got a lot of work to do with the players and I want to do that one-on-one. I want to have those conversations, but behind closed doors.”

Rolapp sent a memo Monday to players in which he outlined the decision that was approved by the PGA Tour Policy Board as well as the PGA Tour Enterprises board, both of which include players such as Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay and Adam Scott.

“In evaluating the situation, our objectives were clear: (1) make the PGA Tour stronger, (2) preserve playing opportunities for current members and (3) deliver on fan desire to see the best players in the world back on our Tour, while ensuring Returning Members must accept severe yet appropriate financial consequences.”

The Tour said Koepka’s financial penalty when adding in bonus money, equity money over five years and the fine could range from $55 million to $90 million.

“Forfeiting five years of potential equity in our Player Equity Program represents one of the largest financial repercussions in professional sports history,” Rolapp said.

LIV Golf issued a statement Monday afternoon, saying “from the outset, LIV Golf has championed an open ecosystem and freedom, for all ... one that supports players' rights to compete across various platforms.”

Official statement from LIV Golf pic.twitter.com/modDrPU7HZ

— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) January 12, 2026

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