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There was a time not that very long ago that Brooks Koepka was the best golfer on the face of the earth.
Koepka won four major championships from 2017-2019 and finished in the top five in all four majors in 2019.
Now that seems like the distant past. Koepka, who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf and a massive pile of money in 2022, most recently missed the cut at an Asian Tour event and currently sits No. 78 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Not great!
But it only gets worse from there. Not only is Koepka struggling on a tour that many people don’t even know exists. Apparently he may not even want to be on that tour anymore.
He also may have no choice.
Brooks Koepka May Seek Out Return To PGA Tour According To Report
Golf writer Alan Shipnuck was recently asked which golfer will be the first to depart LIV for a PGA Tour return, and Koepka’s name was the first to come up.
I’m hearing a lot of rumblings that Brooks Koepka has buyer’s remorse. He took the money when his brittle body was still being put back together, and in private he has confided to folks he wasn’t sure if he would ever get fully healthy again. But now Koepka is feeling frisky and supposedly rethinking his career choice.
The guy has one of the biggest egos in golf, and as the PGA Tour creates ever-increasing buzz with its elevated events and even the state-sanctioned TGL, Koepka has to feel like he’s on the outside looking in.
As for the mechanics of returning to his old place of business, a lot hinges on the European Tour lawsuit that is being reviewed by arbitrators in the UK. If the players prevail, that opens the door for the LIV guys to have unfettered access to the Euro Tour, which will be a boon to a struggling circuit. It would also position LIVers to play for Europe in the Ryder Cup, all of which would put intense pressure on the PGA Tour to forge a truce with LIV. Secretly, Monahan would love for some big-name LIV guys to come home because it would be a p.r. bonanza for the PGA Tour. – via The Fire Pit Collective
Koepa returning “home” would be massive for the PGA Tour. It doesn’t lack for star power. But a big name admitting that LIV was a “mistake” would be a huge hit to the upstart league.
Especially if Koepka can regain any of the magic he once had.