Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and Tiger Woods is pleased. The legendary golfer said as much on Tuesday night. Koepka was one of the first defectors to LIV Golf, and he’s now the first one to officially leave and rejoin the PGA Tour.
Koepka revealed his plan to step away in December. Then, he applied for reinstatement. Now, he’s back, and he will make his first start this month. He is nervous, but he’s ready to make amends. Woods, however, is excited for him and for golf.
Tiger Woods is thrilled by Brooks Koepka’s return
Brooks Koepka is back. This marks the first major step in the reunification that everyone has talked about. It’s getting the best players back together on one tour. Koepka, a five-time Major champion, is one of the world’s best.
“It’s incredible for all the fans,” Tiger Woods said via ESPN at a TGL match on Tuesday night. “The fan initiative program that we did last year, what they wanted, they want to see the best play against the best. And for Brooks to want to come back, a year early, and he was able to do that.”
Interestingly enough, this could open the door for Koepka to play in the Woods and Rory McIlroy-backed TGL. Thus far, only PGA Tour golfers have been added to rosters, with no LIV players being involved.
That may change in the future, but it might not. Koepka’s return to the Tour at least makes it a little more likely that he might join, should he want to.
Woods chairs the PGA Tour’s Future Competition Committee and serves on the PGA Tour policy board, so he’s well-acquainted with the situation. He revealed that they had been working on a path back to the Tour for Koepka and others through the holiday season.
“There’s some punitive damages there, but it’s a meritocracy; that’s what makes our game so great,” the 15-time Major champion said. “(Koepka is) going to play full-field events, and he has the ability to earn his way up to signature events. If he’s good, he’s good. If he plays great, he plays great, and if he wins tournaments, he wins tournaments. There’s no reason why we should hold him back.”
What about Woods?
Tiger Woods just turned 50, which makes him eligible for the Champions Tour. He is as competitive as they come, but his body just hasn’t allowed for PGA Tour or even Major competition lately. He hasn’t started since the Open Championship in 2024.
“Whenever that time comes when I start hitting drivers and I start playing at home and start doing all the different things, I will have been away from the game for a year and a half,” said Woods. He’s had a couple of major surgeries and lost his mother since then.
He continued, “So I will be very rusty. And so there’s a lot that goes into it, so my prep is going to have to be a little bit different from my other procedures I’ve had in the past. I’ve had to stay a lot more patient with myself. I get sore faster, I guess because I’m 50. And that happens.”
At 50 and with such major health issues in the recent past, it’s hard to envision much from Woods. However, he is exempt into most Majors (and would probably be given special exemption if he wanted to play) and automatically qualifies for all Signature Events. If he wants to play, he can play the biggest events and space everything out to accommodate his health.
Still, that’s essentially what he’s been doing for a couple of years, and it hasn’t worked. His body just hasn’t held up. It remains to be seen if, after the latest procedures, things will be better.
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