Brooks Koepka had a great practice at Trump National Doral on Thursday. Koepka waited all day at the Cadillac Championship in Miami, staying sharp and hoping a few players might pull away so he could get a tee time as the second one.
Jake Knapp withdrew to replace Kristoffer Reitan, but Koepka needed another player to bow out. That never happened, so Thursday was a different day for Koepka, who hasn't qualified for the Signature Event since returning to the PGA Tour and has to rely on playing his way into it (he can't accept sponsors' invitations). That's because Koepka, who rejoined the PGA Tour this year through the Returning Member Program after 3 1/2 years at LIV Golf, is still in the penalty box.
He did not enter this week's tournament, but he is in next week's alternative event at Myrtle Beach as the last game before the PGA Championship, a tournament he has won three times.
Koepka paid a hefty price to return to the PGA Tour. But what about his former LIV partners?
“I think having Brooks back was great,” Cameron Young told reporters Thursday, after he shot an eight-under 64 to take an early lead in the Cadillac Championship. “But honestly it's not for me to decide; I don't know what any of those guys are thinking of doing. I don't know what's going to happen with LIV.
On Thursday, LIV Golf released a statement saying it is focused on finding long-term financial partners for its future. A few hours later the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which has bankrolled the league since its inception, said what had been rumored for weeks: “PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season.”
So what happened to LIV? Or its players? These are questions that don't have quick answers. Although the players at Doral were asked how they believe PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp should handle it if there is a plan to return to the PGA Tour this year or next. (Golf Digest It was reported Thursday that “representatives for several LIV players have contacted the PGA Tour to discuss a possible return.”)
Brian Harman said he thinks there should be a way back into their Tour.
“There's been guys coming back. I can't talk to every single one. It seems like they're all treating them on a case-by-case basis,” Harman said. “I would think the fans want everybody to play together and, you know, time heals all wounds. There's still some feeling out there, especially with all the offenses, that it's going to be tough to get through. We're playing all those top guys, so, yeah, I think there's got to be a way back.”
The “lawsuits,” Harman is referring to are the defamation lawsuits several LIV members — Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Talor Gooch, among them — filed against the PGA Tour four years ago.
Other players also had the opportunity to return through the Returning Member Program, as Koepka did, but that deadline has passed.
“We made it clear that that was a one-time returning member plan, and I stand by that,” Rolapp said to players last month. “I don't know the contractual relationship or the terms of the others on the LIV tour, and they have contracts and they should be respected. But we have a method; Patrick Reed is obviously taking advantage of that since he is out of his contractual obligations. So I think the LIV players know what those methods are, and until they change, those are the methods.”
Added Jordan Spieth on Thursday: “I think there's the Brooks program and the Patrick Reed program – is that staying the same for guys in the same category as those two coming back? Or is it changing now? Is it changing for guys who have sued or dropped their memberships? It's just a lot of different things that have happened in the last four years. I'm glad I'm not in that room that's right for that group.
Still, Harman reminded LIV Golf it's not over yet.
“They can get funding elsewhere and continue,” he said. “They've got a lot of big name players out there, guys who are moving the needle. Until it's all over, until you get guys calling and trying to get back on the Tour, it's not really a problem we're dealing with right now.”
Not all may be so receptive. Wyndham Clark said back in January, shortly before Koepka's return was announced, “it's a concern that he can have his cake and eat it too. And if you told me I could go away for a year and a half, make a boatload of money and then be able to come back, play on Tour, I think almost everybody would do that.”
Although on Thursday, some players decided not to attend.
“I just got off the golf course,” said World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, following his 71 years. “I don't know what you want from me.” [Laughs]
