From a sporting perspective, Brooks Koepka has not exactly paid a heavy price upon his return to the PGA Tour this year.
Brooks Koepka became the first big star to leave LIV Golf for the PGA Tour. It was announced on Monday that the five-time major champion will make his return at the Farmers Insurance Open later this month.
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Admittedly, there are some limitations to what Koepka can do on the course. He will only play in the signature events this year if he qualifies.
But the large majority of the penalties for leaving for LIV Golf are financial.
The fee Brooks Koepka paid to leave LIV Golf
Koepka is not eligible for the PGA Tour equity program for the next five years. Meanwhile, he will not receive any bonus should he make the FedEx Cup playoffs this season. He will also make a $5 million donation to charity.
It is a blow to LIV to lose Koepka given his status in the game, particularly as he reportedly had one year left on his contract.
And speaking on 5 Clubs, journalist Josh Carpenter suggested how much Koepka paid to get out of his contract with the breakaway league.
“At least from a couple of people I’ve talked to, the figure that was thrown around in terms of what he had to pay to exit LIV Golf was around $30 million as a fee,” he said.
“And then you talk about the additional $20 million that he gave up by not participating in LIV this year. So there’s potentially $50 million that he gave up right there.”
Brooks Koepka’s decision reflects terribly on LIV Golf
You can understand why LIV would not want the world to know how much Koepka paid to exit his deal one year early.
Obviously, LIV would not want to be seen to be making it easy for the 35-year-old to leave. They want to make it as difficult as possible so that other players are not tempted to follow suit.
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However, if the $30 million figure is correct – and it should be noted that Carpenter was the first to report that Laurie Canter would be returning to LIV this winter – it is a terrible look for the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
Koepka was seemingly so desperate to avoid playing on LIV in 2026 that he has paid more than what Scottie Scheffler made on the course last year.
Of course, Koepka will not be struggling financially even after meeting all the requirements.
But any player considering joining LIV will surely now be keeping in mind just how much Koepka paid to make it back to the PGA Tour.
It is unquestionably a huge victory for Brian Rolapp.
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