Brooks Koepka applies for PGA Tour membership once more

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5-time main champion Brooks Koepka, simply over two weeks after defecting from Saudi-funded LIV Golf, has utilized to have his PGA Tour membership reinstated.

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The subsequent step belongs to the tour, which has suspended gamers for becoming a member of the rival league, even when they by no means had PGA Tour membership.

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Two individuals with data of Koepka’s software confirmed Friday he has began the method to rejoin the tour. They spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of it has not been made public. Koepka’s supervisor at Hambric Sports activities, Blake Smith, mentioned he wouldn’t have a remark at the moment.

ESPN first reported Koepka’s software. With one yr left on his LIV contract, the Saudi-backed league introduced Dec. 23 that he would now not be a part of the LIV Golf League and his captaincy of Smash had been turned over to Talor Gooch.

“Brooks is prioritizing the wants of his household and staying nearer to house,” mentioned Scott O’Neil, the CEO of LIV Golf, who described the departure as amicable and mutual.

The tour coverage has been gamers having to sit down out one yr from their final LIV look, however that was just for nonmembers, similar to Laurie Canter. The Englishman was a part-time LIV participant, and he certified for The Gamers Championship final March one yr and a month after final taking part in a LIV occasion in Las Vegas.

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Brian Rolapp, who took over as CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises final summer time, will face considered one of his first early choices on a pathway again for LIV Golf gamers eager to return. His case will likely be reviewed by Rolapp, together with the coverage board and participant administrators. That features Tiger Woods, who chairs the Future Competitors Committee.

Departure from PGA a shocker

Koepka, and different PGA Tour members who left for LIV and had been seen as damaging the tour, presumably would face any variety of penalties. However the tour’s longtime coverage has been to by no means publicize self-discipline.

The applying comes someday after Rolapp despatched a memo to gamers that the Participant Fairness Program is being expanded to incorporate present yr efficiency. Koepka already was with LIV when the tour started its first-of-a-kind program, with fairness grants first being awarded in April 2024.

Koepka’s departure in June 2022 was one of many greatest surprises, primarily as a result of he was at a company operate the week earlier than he bolted for LIV encouraging the highest gamers to rally round help for the PGA Tour.

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However he additionally was at a crossroads in his profession, hampered by accidents in his knees and his left hip. Koepka acquired his well being so as and he gained in Saudi Arabia later in 2022, then grew to become the primary LIV participant to win a serious on the 2023 PGA Championship.

He has prompt he won’t have joined LIV if he had been extra sure of his well being. Koepka additionally expressed frustration final yr the rival league wasn’t as far alongside as he had hoped. A press release that accompanied his departure from LIV mentioned, “Household has at all times guided Brooks’s choices, and he feels that is the appropriate second to spend extra time at house.”

His spouse, Jenna, introduced on social media in October that she had suffered a miscarriage. They’ve a 2-year-old son.

The PGA Tour gives a five-year exemption to gamers who win a serious, and if the 2023 PGA Championship title is honored, that might make him exempt by way of 2028. Nonetheless to be decided is what sort of punishment the tour will dispense.

The PGA Tour season begins subsequent week on the Sony Open, adopted by The American Categorical within the California desert and the Farmers Insurance coverage Open at Torrey Pines. The subsequent occasion could be the Phoenix Open, which Koepka gained for his first PGA Tour title in 2015. He additionally gained Phoenix in 2021.

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