Brooks Koepka-PGA Tour question? For Rory McIlroy, answer is easy

Brooks Koepka’s decision to leave LIV Golf has thrust pro golf’s cold war back into the spotlight.

Koepka became the first big name to split with the Saudi-backed league. His exodus has many asking the obvious questions about the five-time major winner’s professional future. Will he try to return to the PGA Tour? Should he be allowed to? What would be his punishment if and when he elects to make his return?

For Rory McIlroy, the answer to the Brooks Koepka-PGA Tour question is quite simple.

“Does it make sense if Brooks wanted to play the PGA Tour again to get him back as soon as possible? Absolutely,” McIlroy told The Palm Beach Post on Friday after his Boston Common Golf team won their TGL match over Los Angeles Golf Club. “What Brooks has done in the game of golf, it would be good for everyone to have him back.”

McIlroy, of course, knows that Koepka’s road back to the PGA Tour might not be that easy. The PGA Tour has forced others who have played on LIV to serve severe suspensions before being able to make their way back to the PGA Tour. Hudson Swafford, who played on LIV for three seasons before being relegated, told GOLF’s Subpar Podcast that he is currently in the midst of a five-year suspension from the PGA Tour. He said he won’t be eligible to return until 2027.

McIlroy understands that the PGA Tour can’t give Koepka special treatment, even if they want to. The slope is slippery.

“It’s hard (because) you can’t treat one person differently than you treat others,” McIlroy said. “And as much as the Tour would like to treat Brooks differently, it sets a legal precedent, because of the lawsuits that have been going on and everything else behind the scenes. He’s still exempt on Tour because of his major wins. That’s not the hurdle. The hurdle is how they have treated others that have tried to come back, serve suspensions, or whatever it is. That’s the difficult thing.”

McIlroy was once the frontman in the PGA Tour’s battle against LIV Golf. But the five-time major champion has since receded into the background of the ongoing civil conflict and believes it’s time for professional golf to put aside its differences and come back together. To McIlroy, the LIV defectors have already been punished in the public eye.

“I think they’ve already paid their consequence,” McIlroy told The Overlap’s Stick To Football Podcast. “They’ve made the money, but they’ve paid their consequence in terms of the reputation and some of the things they’ve lost by going over there. “If it made the overall Tour stronger to have Bryson back and whoever else, I would be OK with it, but I recognize not everyone is in my position. It would be up to the collective group of PGA Tour members to make that decision.

“For golf to be relevant I think we need the best players together more often than that.”

Back in February, McIlroy explained how he went from an outspoken LIV critic to someone who just wants this all to be over with.

“Whether you stayed on the PGA Tour or you left, we have all benefited from this,” McIlroy said at the Genesis Invitational. “I’ve been on the record saying this a lot: We’re playing for a $20 million prize fund this week. That would have never happened if LIV hadn’t come around. I think everyone’s just got to get over it, and we all have to say, OK, this is the starting point, and we move forward. We don’t look behind us. We don’t look to the past. Whatever’s happened has happened and it’s been unfortunate, but reunification, how we all come back together and move forward, that’s the best thing for everyone.

“If people are butt hurt or have their feelings hurt because guys went or whatever, like, who cares? Let’s move forward together, and let’s just try to get this thing going again and do what’s best for the game.”

As for Koepka’s professional future, GOLF’s Dylan Dethier learned that Koepka’s representatives informed the PGA Tour of his plan to leave LIV prior to the split becoming public. Koepka did not renew his PGA Tour membership after leaving for LIV in 2022, so he’d have to reapply for membership and then have the PGA Tour and new CEO Brian Rolapp decide on any disciplinary measures.

As for LIV, Koepka’s departure has given Bryson DeChambeau even more leverage in contract renewal negotiations. DeChambeau told Flushing It that Koepka’s exit has, at the very least, added a wrinkle.

“It’s a scenario that is very unique,” DeChambeau told Flushing It. “With Brooks leaving, it definitely throws in some unique things. And look, I mean, like I’ve said all along, I want to do this, I want to grow team golf across the globe. But it has to be right. And there’s a lot of things that have to be done in order for it to be right, you know? 

“Things have got to change. Things have got to improve. And I think [CEO Scott O’Neil] has done a fabulous job with the year that he’s had. And I think this year’s going to be even better, now he’s got the right people in place, and he can run the organization the way he wants to do this here. So it’s going to be interesting to see, especially with the new branding coming on. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. I don’t run this thing at all. I don’t really have much say, to be honest with you. Which is funny, but it is what it is, right? And, you know, I sometimes wish I had more say, but that’s life and I don’t run the organization and I trust them to do that.”

When Koepka officially parted ways with LIV, his representatives released a statement saying he made the decision to “spend more time at home with his family.” But the statement also made it clear that this seismic move was not the end of the Brooks Koepka story.

“Brooks remains passionate about the game of golf and will keep fans updated on what’s ahead,” the statement said.

What’s ahead very well could be a PGA Tour return. Rory McIlroy is in favor of a quick return, but the path forward is murky at best at the moment.