Katie Goodale-Imagn Images
As things currently stand, none of the PGA Tour players who defected to LIV Golf have returned to the circuit they abandoned. However, there’s growing speculation that Brooks Koepka could make that unprecedented move as both organizations prepare for their upcoming seasons.
It’s been more than four years since Brooks Koepka appeared in a PGA Tour event, as his tie for 67th at the Shiners Children’s Open in October 2021 was the last tournament he competed in before making the leap to LIV Golf.
Koepka occupied the ninth spot in the Official World Golf Ranking at the time of his departure, and while he was able to stop his skid with a victory at the PGA Championship in 2023, he’s currently sitting in 245th following his fourth year with the upstart league that reportedly poached him with the help of a $130 million contract.
That deal runs through the end of the upcoming LIV Golf season (which will get underway in Saudi Arabia at the start of February), but it sounds like there’s a chance the 35-year-old won’t be joining his Smash GC team when it kicks off as he mulls a return to his former home.
Brooks Koepka may skip the 2026 LIV Golf season in an attempt to return to the PGA Tour
Laurie Canter became the first person to get the chance to return to the PGA Tour after leaving it for LIV when he secured his card on the DP World Tour earlier this year, but he ultimately decided to rejoin the latter at the start of December.
Canter would have been eligible to take his talents back to the PGA Tour after serving the suspension that the organization has levied against the players who’ve left, as golfers aren’t eligible to return until one year after they competed in their most recent LIV Golf event.
The most recent season wrapped up at the end of August, which means the golfers who participated in the stroke play championship that marked the end of that campaign could theoretically compete in the PGA Tour’s fall series in 2026.
However, the countdown will be reset if they take part in any LIV Golf events this year, and according to Sports Business Journal, Koepka is entertaining the possibility of forfeiting the approximately $20 million he’s slated to make this season in the hopes of heading back to the PGA Tour.
The outlet cites four sources who asserted Koepka may abandon LIV Golf in favor of competing on the DP World Tour and in the four majors he’s automatically eligible for thanks to his aforementioned win at the PGA Championship. There is a chance the PGA Tour could make him jump through some extra hoops before reinstating him, but there’s nothing that currently suggests he won’t be allowed back if he does serve the suspension.
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil didn’t do much to quell those rumors with a response to a question about Koepka skipping the season, saying:
“I know you’re not going to want to hear this one, just the individual players, and this goes back to our policy, we’re just going to run it through. So, we haven’t made any announcements on players, but he is signed for 2026.”
Koepka is a nine-time PGA Tour winner who also finished in a tie for second at The Masters the same year he secured the fifth major of his career at Oak Hill.
He also became the first person to get five individual victories in LIV Tour events, and while he didn’t get a win in 2025, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to think he’ll be able to contend if he does mount a comeback.