As Brooks Koepka officially prepares to return to the PGA Tour later this month, the reaction from many tour players has been positive so far.
“I thought it was really good,” eight-time PGA Tour tournament winner Billy Horschel said during an interview on Golf Channel Monday at the Sony Open in Honolulu.
“For the betterment of the PGA Tour, for the continued growth, the competitive aspect, the possible changes that we’re going to see starting in 2027, this was a great step forward to continuing the momentum that we had last year in ‘25, going to carry on in ‘26, and hopefully going into ‘27 with particular changes,” Horschel said.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is considering drastic schedule changes that could arrive in 2027, aimed at bringing the top players together more often.
Koepka told the AP he has “a lot of work to do with some of the players. There’s definitely guys who are happy, and definitely guys who will be angry. It’s a harsh punishment financially. I understand exactly why the tour did that—it’s meant to hurt. But it hurt a lot of people. If anyone is upset, I need to rebuild those relationships.”
Koepka is donating $5 million to charity, but more consequentially is forfeiting any potential equity in the PGA Tour’s player equity program for at least five years, and isn’t eligible for FedExCup bonus money this year. The PGA Tour estimated that could result in $50 million to $85 million worth of losses in potential earnings. Koepka has previously said his LIV Golf contract was worth more than $100 million.
Ben Griffin, who won three PGA Tour events in 2025 and was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, was among several other players who spoke to Golf Channel in Hawai’i Monday.
“The reason I play professional golf at this point in my career is to compete against the best players,” said Griffin, ranked No. 8 in the world. “So I know for me, I’m excited about it. I think it’s a great move by [Rolapp], to give him an option to come back and pay some sort of consequence, and come back and compete against us.”
Koepka is ranked No. 244 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but is a former world No. 1, and has won five major championships.
Gary Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion and a close friend of Koepka, said: “The golf world’s changing, the PGA Tour’s changing. I’m happy for Brooks, because BK’s done a lot out here. And I know he’s excited to be back, which is great. I’m happy for the PGA Tour, as well. I think it’s a smart deal that nobody’s losing any starting status this year.”
Colin Morikawa said, “You can never be one step behind, especially in the sports world. You’ve got to be two steps ahead.”
Three-time major champion Jordan Spieth largely approves of the financial ramifications of Koepka’s return. “The punishment, no one knows exactly what it is until you see what happens with what the growth of equity becomes going forward,” Spieth told the AP. “Could it end up being close to what he went to LIV for? Maybe. Probably not. But regardless, it’s substantial enough that if he were to play well, then it would still be a penalty.”
Michael Kim, the No. 37-ranked player in the world, posted on X: “I’m actually surprised at the amount of ‘penalties’ that Brooks has to take on. It was the better decision to welcome him back. Most of the ‘anger’ comes from feeling like we missed out but that’s not a place to make smart decisions from.”
Discussion around Koepka’s return figures to be a hot topic for the rest of this week as the 2026 PGA Tour season begins, and until he makes his first start at the Farmers Insurance Open, which begins Jan. 29.
Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia tells Front Office Sports he’s not shocked by Koepka’s swift reinstatement. “It doesn’t surprise me,” Garcia said Tuesday at LIV’s preseason Teams Week in West Palm Beach.
Garcia said he expected the PGA Tour to “do something to make sure [Koepka] didn’t have to have a year off.”
“I hope he enjoys it,” Garcia said. “I hope he plays better than he played here last year. Obviously, he wasn’t very happy with the way he played, and it showed.”
