Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour had a lot going for it trying to see the bigger picture.
Tommy Fleetwood took the opposite approach.
of PGA Tour decision to welcome Koepka back from LIV Golf through a one-time pathway for “elite” players was a blow to the breakaway league. Koepka is the first big name to defect again to the PGA Tour. And while The PGA Tour tried to entice Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith to use limited “Returning Member Program” to follow Koepka, the five-time major champion’s decision to return is all about one man. That’s how Fleetwood sees it.
“I think generally, people want to play where their goals or dreams are on the line,” Fleetwood said on Tuesday ahead of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. “They want to play where they feel they can follow them. Personally, I’m playing where I feel like I can still follow my dreams and I’m in the best place to be the best player I can be. Other people may feel differently.
“I think that’s what Brooks is doing. He wants to play where he feels like he can get the most out of himself and play his best golf, and obviously he’s made his decisions there and he’s done coming back.”
Rahm, DeChambeau and Smith have already said it plan to continue playing at LIV and won’t hit the road back to the PGA Tour until the Feb. 2 deadline. DeChambeau’s contract with LIV expires at the end of the 2026 season, and the two-time US Open champion now has more influence than any golfer in history. He admitted Koepka’s departure has added a wrinkle to his contract renewal negotiations and said playing the top four and spending the rest of his time being a YouTube golfer. is a “viable” option. Rahm has several years left on his deal and it’s unclear how much money he would have to leave on the table to return to the PGA Tour. As for Smith, he seems genuinely happy with LIV’s team format and his annual visit to his home country of Australia.
As for whether or not Koepka’s decision to rejoin the PGA Tour will be become the first domino in a series of emerging elite players breakaway league, Fleetwood don’t have the answers.
No one does.
“What the future holds, I don’t know,” Fleetwood said. “I watched the interview with the guys, Jon and Bryson and Cameron, and they’re obviously well-positioned to play LIV Golf, and that’s where they want to play. Who knows? I don’t think anybody really knows what’s going to happen next. It’s kind of the same situation that everybody’s in.
“The (PGA) Tour is in a great place. We play some unbelievable events for a ridiculous amount of money on the PGA Tour, and I think it’s been in a great place and I’m very grateful to be able to play where I play. It’s a great thing about the PGA Tour that Brooks is back and he’s playing. I don’t really know where he stands.”
While Fleetwood doesn’t know what Koepka’s return means for the bigger picture of golf’s civil war, the PGA Tour’s two biggest stars have a different opinion. There is symbolism in Koepka’s return and a statement about where things are headed.
“We’ve got back probably the top three player of his generation going into another tournament,” Tiger Woods said of Koepka’s return after last week’s TGL event. “I played there and I was determined to come back here and I came out early to come back. It says a lot about the PGA Tour, where we’re going, what we’ve done, what we’ve accomplished and the players that have stayed and that have supported the tour. Having another world-class player that these guys are going to try and beat, that’s what the fans asked for and this initiative, that’s what our fans asked for. We’ve addressed it.”
Added Rory McIlroy to an exclusive interview with Of the Telegraph James Corrigan: “It’s not like they’ve made any big signings this year, have they? They haven’t signed anybody that moves the needle and I don’t think they will. I mean, they could re-sign Bryson for hundreds of millions of dollars, but even if they do, it doesn’t change their product, does it? They’re just going to pay for the same thing.
“And they’ve lost Brooks.”
Brooks Koepka will officially put the tee on the ground as a member of the PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines next week. He’s playing where he wants to play, in a tournament he believes gives him the best ability to be the best version of Brooks Koepka.
Whether or not it will become more than that remains to be seen.
;)
