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The ex-LIV Golf star could lose up to $90m by avoiding a one-year ban and teeing up at the Farmers Insurance Open later this month<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n\n
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\nBrooks Koepka is returning to the PGA Tour after four years on LIV Golf(Image: Isaiah Vazquez\/Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/button><\/p>\n
Former LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka claimed he is \u201cnervous\u201d and \u201cexcited\u201d about returning to the PGA Tour this month.<\/p>\n
And the five-time Major champion insisted he is paying a \u201charsh penalty financially\u201d – which could reach $90m – instead of serving a one-year ban.<\/p>\n
The former world No.1 is the first to take advantage of the new Returning Member Program which applies only to players who have won a Major or The Players Championship since 2022. The offer is also available to Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith until February 2 – other names who will bring star quality back to the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Brooks Koepka’s PGA Tour return explained: From LIV Golf exit to Returning Member rule<\/span><\/span>READ MORE: What $60m Brooks Koepka return means for the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and Bryson DeChambeau<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nKoepka acknowledged some players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour will be \u201cangry\u201d about his return only a month after he quit LIV Golf on December 23.<\/p>\n
The American, now world No.244, will play his first regular event on the PGA Tour since March 2022 at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on January 29.<\/p>\n
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\nThe new PGA Tour Returning Member Program will allow Bryson DeChambeau to return along with Brooks Koepka(Image: Getty Images for The Showdown)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/button><\/div>\n
\u201cThe first week I’ll be a little bit nervous,\u201d Koepka admitted. “There’s a lot more going on than just golf. I’ll be glad to put the first week behind me – dealing with the media, dealing with the players, and then getting some of those tougher conversations. But I’m looking forward to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAm I nervous? Yes. Am I excited? Yes. In a weird way, I want to have those conversations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got 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\u2019s a harsh punishment financially. I understand exactly why the tour did that \u2014 it\u2019s meant to hurt. But it (his departure) hurt a lot of people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s probably a mixed bag of, \u2018We\u2019re happy you’re back, welcome home’ to \u2018You shouldn\u2019t be here.’ I understand everybody’s point of view.<\/p>\n
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\nBrooks Koepka won his last Major at the 2023 PGA which made him eligible for the PGA Tour’s Returning Member Program(Image: Photo by Keyur Khamar\/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/button><\/div>\n
\u201cIf anyone is upset, I need to rebuild those relationships. I was going to be sitting out possibly a year, and I’m extremely thankful the tour gave me this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
This sense of resentment could also extend to fans. Koepka\u2019s second event will be the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale with the notoriously rowdy 16th hole.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can handle it,\u201d he said. \u201cI enjoy the crowd, and hopefully everybody is happy to see me. They can’t be mad at me forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Koepka has agreed to donate $5m to charity, will be ineligible for FedExCup bonus money in 2026 and will have to qualify for the $20m Signature Events. Most importantly, he will have no participation in the PGA Tour Equity Program – where loyal players will be given shares to compensate for not taking the LIV cash- for the next five years. PGA Tour executive Brian Rolapp estimates that could cost him from $50m to $85m.<\/p>\n
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\nNew PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp spoke with Brooks Koepka last week about the former world No.1’s return(Image: Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/button><\/div>\n
Koepka, who met with Rolapp last week, said: \u201cThere was no negotiating. It’s meant to hurt, it does hurt, but I understand. It’s not supposed to be an easy path. There’s a lot of people that were hurt by it when I left, and I understand that’s part of coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Koepka has previously revealed his LIV signing-on fee was nine figures – ie over $100m – though it is not clear if he will have to pay any money back.<\/p>\n
His wife Jena Sims suffered a miscarriage last year. \u201cI needed to be there with my family over the last few months,\u201d Koepka said. \u201cI needed to be closer to home,\u201d Koepka said. “I was able to get out of the LIV contract, everything lined up perfectly and I was able to get back on tour. I’m happy and grateful it was able to come to this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The ex-LIV Golf star could lose up to $90m by avoiding a one-year ban and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}