Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods happy with Brooks Koepka return; The Wyndham Clark is sad

Some of the biggest names on the PGA Tour let their voices be heard afterward Brooks Koepka was also accepted into the rotation following a four-year stint with LIV Golf. He is able to return through the newly established Returning Member Program created by PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp — with the help of mentors from players like Tiger Woods — Koepka’s return has brought mixed reactions from the players he will share the tee sheet with in 2026.

“There are opinions coming from both sides,” said Woods. “We’re not going to satisfy everybody. We know that. But the whole idea is to make our tour better than it was. With the addition of Brooks to the Tour, … it makes it a better place to play. Now, it’s the players who have earned equity, and there’s four more years of equity for these players, the fact that they own the Tour, if Brooks puts their money in their pocket, everybody plays for it.”

Players like Ben Griffin, Max Homa, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa and other high-ranking members of the PGA Tour also came out in support of this decision. Playing on the DP World Tour in Dubai this week, Rory McIlroy echoed those sentiments while also giving his overall view of LIV Golf.

“This is as good as it gets Brooks back where he belongs,” McIlroy told The Telegraph. “He’s one of the best players in the world, and anything that makes the traditional tour stronger is a good thing in my book.”

Koepka’s departure from LIV Golf came at the end of an offseason in which the league was very successful in its recruiting efforts. Si Woo Kim, Sungjae Im, Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia have all reportedly turned down LIV Golf; the league instead signed Byeong Hun An, Thomas Detry and Elvis Smylie as it seemed to focus more on country-based teams. He is the captain of the Korean club which was known as Iron Heads GC but which has been renamed as Korean Golf Club.

Although Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith have all committed to play at LIV Golf in 2026. despite qualifying for the PGA Tour’s Returning Member Program on the PGA Tour, the future is not set. DeChambeau is in talks and playing his hand hard, refusing to commit beyond 2026 and calling the opportunity to play only on YouTube and in the majors “a viable option.”

“It’s not like they signed big players this year, is it?” said McIlroy about LIV Golf’s recruiting efforts. “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, right? They’ll be paying the exact same thing.”

McIlroy and Woods have both been handed stellar paydays from LIV Golf at various stages, as has Wyndham Clark. The former US Open champion had played LIV Golf in the past, noting that the league only played 54 holes.

However, with Koepka allowed to make a smooth comeback, Clark wonders if he should have jumped ship, too.

“I personally like Brooks, and I think it’s ultimately good for the PGA Tour,” Clark said on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. “But also, [as] the guy who got the chance to go to LIV, worries that he can have his cake and eat it too. And if you would have told me that I could go away for a year and a half, make a lot of money and be able to come back, play on Tour, I think almost everyone would have done that.”

“At the end of the day, I want whatever is the best on the PGA Tour, and I think if guys come back, especially top guys like Brooks, it’s only going to help the Tour, which will ultimately help me.”

The key to the Returning Member Program is that Koepka’s addition to the PGA Tour fields will not come at the cost of any other player, meaning the five-time major champion will be added to the fields as an additional golfer. He will have to play 15 events and qualify for signing events while not being eligible for sponsor exemptions from those tournaments, all of which are retroactive.

“That was one of the biggest concerns and one of the biggest things that myself and the other coaches were looking for,” Woods said. “He’s an addition. … It’s a different lineup, I think they’re going to be affected by getting in one or two more events, which is good. And on top of that, we’re getting a player who’s probably the top three of his generation who went on another tour, played over there, and he was going to come back here and he came back early.

“That says a lot about the PGA Tour, where we’re going, what we’ve done, what we’ve achieved with the players who have stayed and supported the Tour. To have another world-class player that these guys will try to beat, that’s what the fans wanted.”