According to Tiger Woods, here’s how Brooks Koepka got back on the PGA Tour

Tiger Woods and the PGA Tour, on the same day announced LIV Golf Brooks Koepka was leaving the leaguereceived a letter from him asking if he could rejoin the county he left in 2022, and the process for his return began, Woods says.

But 15 times major winner also said the Tour had been “going through scenarios for a very long time” regarding players returning to the Tour from the rival circuit. And if he were to reach out to three LIV Golf players who may also return to the Tour soon, Woods had only this to say Tuesday night:

They would also have to write a letter to the CEO of the Tour Brian Rolapp and commissioner Jay Monahan.

Woods’ comments came after playing in TGL, the simulator-based league he co-founded – and a day after the Tour announced that Koepka was coming back next month under the newly established “Returning Member Program.” Under the policy, Koepka and three current LIV players – Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith – will be allowed to return to the PGA Tour through their major championship wins over the past four years, but will have to agree to a number of conditions, including making a $5 million charitable donation and not receiving access to the Tour’s 20 20 equity program for five years.

As part of the announcement, Rolapp said Koepka had agreed to those terms, a process Woods said began on Dec. 23 and continued into the new year. Koepka’s letter was soon relayed to the PGA Tourism Policy Board, the PGA Tour Enterprise board, a pair of steering committees on which Woods serves.

“We took that letter,” Woods said, “and then we took it to both boards and tried to implement a plan that would be fair and adequate, that would justify Brooks’ time away from our tour, the penalties served, the fines if necessary, what integration into our tour would look like and obviously the bonus payments, yes or no.

“We had a lot of back-to-back meetings, we worked through the holidays. There were no days off. We just worked at it day by day and came up with a plan that we rolled out.”

However, Koepka was welcomed back, Woods said.

He also ranked it.

“We’ve got back probably the top three player of his generation who went to another tournament,” Woods said, “played there and was determined to come back here and left early to come back.

“It says a lot about the PGA Tour, where we’ve gone, what we’ve done, what we’ve accomplished and the players that have stayed and supported the tour. To have another world-class player that these guys are going to try and beat, that’s what the fans asked for. That’s what the fans wanted for our fan initiative program, and I think we addressed that.”

Next month, LIV will begin its fifth season, and Koepka was among those who received huge, guaranteed payouts to leave the Tour and join the Saudi-backed circuit. Talks of a men’s golf reunion have largely stalled, although Woods said Tuesday that a meeting that took place 11 months ago at the White House and included President Donald Trump’s revived talks to “make our sport unified again.”

“But this is a first move,” Woods said, “which is a great move.”

There is also the possibility of more.

Under the returning member program, DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith can also return to the PGA Tour, and the circuit set a Feb. 2 deadline for them to decide. Notably, each was part of a preseason LIV press conference on Tuesday, and each had different answers to a moderator’s question referring to Koepka.

Said DeChambeau: “Yeah, I mean, look, I’m signed through 2026, so I’m excited about this year.”

Said Rahm: “Yeah, I’m not planning on going anywhere. Very similar answer to what Bryson gave. I wish Brooks the best. As for me, I’m focused on the league and my team this year, and hopefully we can repeat as champions.”

Said Smith: “I really don’t have an opinion. I haven’t had much time to think about it. But I know I’m here to stay. I’m here to support LIV. I’m a captain of a great team and a great group of people. I’m happy where I am. I’m proud of where I’m at. I think we’re doing a lot of great things in Australia, especially to keep this league going.”

However, can they be convinced by Woods?

In response to a reporter’s question Tuesday night, he said only this:

“Actually, the CEO is Brian, so they need to talk to Brian, they need to write a letter to Jay and Brian to get the ball rolling.”

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