PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Brooks Koepka is open to being a resource for any LIV Golf players who might be interested in ultimately returning to the PGA Tour, but he’s trying to keep a relatively low profile early on in his stint back.
“I’m pretty open. They can come up to me and talk to me about anything,” Koepka said Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference ahead of the Players Championship when asked by Front Office Sports about his return. “I just changed my phone number, so they’re going to have a hard time reaching out on that.”
Koepka is competing in his first Players Championship since 2022, and his fourth tournament since rejoining the PGA Tour in January as the first participant in the new returning member program. His best result this year came at his most recent start two weeks ago at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, where he tied for ninth.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but the fans have been great,” Koepka said. “I’m still getting ‘welcome back’ as of yesterday. It’s a good feeling. It feels good to be back. I’m enjoying it. It’s a lot of fun. And the players have been great, too.”
LIV stars Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Cam Smith were the only other players who could have joined Koepka this season under the PGA Tour’s returning member program, but none of the three applied for reinstatement by the Feb. 2 deadline.
Patrick Reed left LIV in late January, just before its 2026 season started, and is playing on the DP World Tour until August, when he will be eligible to return to PGA Tour competition.
Changing Numbers—Again
Despite the phone number switch, Koepka hasn’t specifically cut off communication with any of his former LIV colleagues. “I still text guys pretty consistently, whether it be on LIV or on tour, so anybody can reach out,” he said. “They know that.”
The five-time major champion said he changes his phone number at least once every year or two.
“I think after Phoenix just wanted a little bit of a reset,” Koepka said. “Then my phone was blowing up. Just wanted to really focus on preparation and dialing into golf. I thought that was the best way to come unglued from the world for a half second—basically it was only my family and anybody that’s golf related really has my number right now—it’s been kind of nice.”
