The PGA Tour has now created the pathway that will see Brooks Koepka tee it up at the Farmers Insurance Open towards the end of the month.
As soon as Brooks Koepka‘s LIV Golf departure was announced in December, all eyes were on Brian Rolapp and the PGA Tour to see what they would do. Previously, Koepka would have been expected to serve some sort of suspension if he hoped to come back to his former tour.
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However, it was announced on Monday that Koepka will be able to make his return to the PGA Tour as part of the new Returning Member Program – and he may not be the last.
The Returning Member Program opens the door for those who won a major or The Players Championship between 2022 and 2025 to come back under certain conditions. Koepka, for example, will have to donate $5 million to charity as part of his comeback.
Billy Horschel issues his verdict on the PGA Tour launching the Returning Member Program
It means that Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau could also return should they wish to, as long as they look to come back before February 2nd.
It may disappoint some of those on the PGA Tour that these big names have the opportunity to return.
But speaking on the Golf Channel, Billy Horschel insisted that this program offers the best way forward for all parties.
“I don’t need any skin for them to come back. I know some guys may still have some animosity and still have some ill will towards them. I think what the PGA Tour has put in place is enough of a hit for those guys coming back to understand the damage that they may have done when they left and how some of these players felt,” he said.
“At the same time, with LIV and some of these guys leaving, we had to make changes to the PGA Tour and become a better tour, evolve, things that I was very adamant about behind closed doors for a number of years before LIV even came about. For me, I’m okay with everything that is put in place.
“I’ve not talked to a lot of guys. I think some guys are probably still going to feel like there should be more and they shouldn’t be allowed to play right away. But selfishly, which is unusual for me, to think about the PGA Tour, I have equity in the PGA Tour and I want that equity to grow, and giving these guys the option to come back to the PGA Tour is a no-brainer.
“It creates value to the PGA Tour. It creates a better competitive product and that’s what we’re trying to do on the PGA Tour.”
The PGA Tour praised for ensuring that current members do not lose out as Brooks Koepka prepares to make his return
Where Rolapp has really secured a significant victory is making it clear that Koepka will not be able to jump the queue ahead of anyone currently on the PGA Tour.
If he wants to play in the signature events, he will have to qualify. He will not be able to receive a sponsor’s invite. He will also not be entitled to any of the bonus pool should he make it to the FedEx Cup playoffs this year.
Fields will be expanded to accommodate Koepka. That will also benefit those on the alternate lists as they are more likely to feature if the five-time major champion is in the field.
Horschel praised those involved in putting the program together for making this decision.
“I was not in any of the negotiations or the talks about this program being put in place. But I think the tour got it right,” he said.
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“The players involved in discussing this program understand that they didn’t want to punish any of the PGA Tour players that have been loyal, that are still loyal to the PGA Tour, and they didn’t want to give these guys the upper hand in the sense of being able to get in the signature events through sponsor exemptions, because we knew sponsors would want these guys to be in.
“They have the ability to be in signature events, but they have to play their way in like everyone else who are currently not in signature events. It’s a great program that they’ve put in place. Not one PGA Tour player will be punished or kicked out of an event if all four of these guys come back, or if it’s just Brooks coming back.”
Obviously, there will be some players who dislike this program. But given how many opinions Rolapp had to consider before putting this in place, it is hard to know where the PGA Tour CEO could have possibly done a better job.
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