‘Brooks Koepka is returning to the PGA Tour,’ a rumor that started a couple of months ago, thanks to Fred Couples’s comments that “he [Koepka] really wants to come back and play the Tour.” Then, Koepka weakly defended himself with the famous sentence, “I don’t know where I am going, so I don’t know how everybody else does” against the question about his LIV Golf contract expiration. But, Koepka wasn’t done with adding fire to the rumor mill.
He made bigger waves with his complaints against his current employer, with the latest coming ahead of LIV Golf Miami. And it came as negatively as you would expect. “I think we all hoped it would have been a little bit further along, and that’s no secret. No matter where you’re at, you always hope everything is further along. But they’re making progress, and it seems to be going in the right direction.” Interestingly, not the first time. The complaints may also be about LIV golfers not receiving OWGR ranking despite all the promises and hard work. But was Koepka done? No.
In the latest, the LIV golfer has again pushed the “Koepka may return to the Tour” narrative with his recent comments. He wants to rejoin PGA Tour events or, at least, some of them. “I still have a good relationship with everybody there. There’s a lot of ‘what-ifs’, but I’d be open to playing certain (PGA Tour) events. “Like I love Phoenix, The Cognizant Classic, because it’s my hometown. I’d love to play Dunhill, but if we can’t that’s OK. I’ve made my decision. I think each year at LIV has got better. And that should be the goal, right?”
A lot to unpack, so let’s go through it one at a time. Of course, Koepka hasn’t played in any of the aforementioned events since joining LIV in 2022. But he has constantly played against his former Tour friends in the golf majors. And he will be doing that in a week once again at The 2025 Masters. Additionally, Koepka can’t play in any Tour events until a year after stopping to play LIV Golf events. But Koepka’s faith in LIV Golf may be based on shaky grounds.
#NEW: Ahead of The Masters, Brooks Koepka revealed to @thetimes that he is open to returning to play PGA Tour events and still speaks with commissioner Jay Monahan…
“I still have a good relationship with everybody there. There’s a lot of ‘what-ifs’, but I’d be open to… pic.twitter.com/A441n3gB41
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) April 4, 2025
For instance, it is true that the Saudi-backed league, for the first time since its inception, partnered with a major TV network in the U.S. But it hasn’t been very successful. LIV Golf’s season-opener in Riyadh got a paltry 12,000 viewers. So, not very successful. And a lot will likely change with the possible merger between LIV Golf and the Tour. However, what should scare LIV Golf is its top golfers’ constant wish to participate in the Tour events. And no, Brooks Koepka isn’t alone.
Brooks Koepka isn’t alone in his wish to play the PGA Tour events
Last year, it was another LIV golfer, Jon Rahm. Ahead of 2024’s LIV Golf event in Adelaide, reporters questioned which Tour events he would still like to play in. Rahm wants to play on Tour events only as long as it doesn’t affect his LIV Golf schedule. However, his answer was long with a bunch of Tour events names on his tongue.
“I’ve said numerous times and I’ll say it again, Palm Springs [the American Express], Torrey Pines [Farmers Insurance Open], Phoenix [WM Phoenix Open], LA [Genesis Invitational], if I’m allowed to be able to play, the Players [Players Championship]. Those are events that if I could, I would love to play,” he said. However, just like the rest of the LIV golfers, Rahm will not be able to play there unless he maintains a year-long gap between LIV Golf and himself. But, let’s suppose his wish is granted, will it not be too much workload? In his words, Rahm doesn’t mind playing in 23 or 24 events in a year. He has done that before.
He added. “Yeah, I would be up to playing, and I’d still try to go play the Spanish Open and whatever I can in Spain, as well. That’s just what I want to do.”
Both John Rahm and Brooks Koepka will be present at the 2025 season’s last LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami before heading to Augusta National. Will the meeting with former friends push this conversation more? We will see!
The post ‘Open to Playing’: Brooks Koepka’s Unapologetic PGA Tour Confession Comes Just Days After Admitting LIV Golf Disappointment appeared first on EssentiallySports.