Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, but not everyone is rolling out the welcome mat, sparking a firestorm that has the Tour’s new CEO in the crosshairs. The most recent criticism comes in the column “The Undercover Pro: How a lot of us feel about Brooks coming back,” written by an anonymous PGA Tour pro in Golf Digest. And the waters have only become muddier.

“Another thing that I do find annoying is the inflated ‘money lost’ aspect of Brooks’ penalty. We’ve been told Brooks is surrendering upward of $90 million by coming back. Some of that is real cash with known values for FedEx Cup bonuses and charity donations, but a lot of it is theoretical in player equity. Sorry to roll my eyes, but remember the nine figures he already pocketed for playing three years at LIV? That $90 million number is an insult to our intelligence,” the player noted.

Under the Returning Member Program, Koepka faces a $5 million charitable donation and a five-year forfeiture of potential equity grants. He also cannot get sponsor exemptions for signature events this year and will miss out on the payments from the FedExCup Bonus Program.

While the Tour projects these losses to be between $50 and $90 million, these are future earnings and not certain to happen. In fact, if Koepka’s early form is any indication, the five-time major winner wouldn’t have earned a hefty sum from the FedEx Cup bonus. He has missed the cut at the WM Phoenix Open and managed a T56 on his debut at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Conversely, Brooks Koepka pocketed a signing bonus exceeding $100 million in 2022 from LIV. Additionally, he made approximately $47 million during his stint with LIV Golf.

For a golfer whose future was already uncertain with the ongoing changes of the PGA Tour’s scarcity model, a penalty comprised of unearned, theoretical future equity only looks good on paper but doesn’t equate to the actual liquid capital Koepka had already secured from LIV.

While the anonymous golfer took issue with how the Tour framed the financial sacrifice, he also made it clear that Koepka himself was never viewed as a pariah inside locker rooms. Unlike several LIV defectors, Koepka largely stayed in good standing with former colleagues. He never publicly disparaged the PGA Tour, never sued it, and never leaned on “growing the game” rhetoric to justify his exit. His decision, as described by the pro, stemmed from genuine concerns about his body breaking down and a belief that his competitive future was closing, rather than ideological alignment with LIV.

It should also be noted that Koepka attended a TGL event in February 2025 and maintained relationships with key figures on Tour. He remained close with Rory McIlroy, even playing a practice round together ahead of the 2023 Masters. Even his high-profile rivalry with Bryson DeChambeau was viewed internally as performative rather than malicious, with the pro recalling Koepka joking to a Tour official at its height, “Come on, you know I’m not going to club a baby seal.”

As a result, while players bristled at how seamless the return process appeared, many were ultimately fine with Koepka being back. His presence on the PGA Tour, the pro argued, directly weakens LIV Golf by removing one of its most credible competitive anchors. In that sense, Koepka’s return is seen less as a reward for leaving and more as a strategic gain for the Tour. Credit for that approach was directed squarely at Brian Rolapp.

“However, I give Brian Rolapp [PGA Tour CEO] credit here. Why? If reunification ever materializes, the biggest challenge will be managing how LIV guys return. Many won’t have status, so how do you bring them back without inherently punishing those who stayed loyal? We don’t really need anyone from LIV Golf except for a handful of players. Rolapp’s advantage is that he’s new and can remake things as he sees fit.”

The PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger has been long pending, with no real updates for a substantial time. The chances for it to ever becoming a reality are low, honestly, but if it does, now the Tour has a pathway (subject to change, probably after the merger) for LIV golfers like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm to return.

Now, if the same decision had been taken under the leadership of the former commissioner Jay Monahan, according to the pro, who was often seen as reactive and intent on trying to appease every faction during the LIV uprising, Brooks would still be in limbo, but Rolapp wanted Brooks, so he got Brooks. But not everyone shares Rolapp’s enthusiasm for a frictionless return.

“If you would have told me that I could have gone for a year and a half, made a boatload of money, and then been able to come back and play on the tour, I think almost everyone would have done that,” said Wyndham Clark on Koepka’s return.

Hideki Matsuyama also lamented how easily the PGA Tour ditched the policy of one-year suspension for Koepka.

“While there has been a financial hit, what about the non-monetary aspects? What happened to the rule that players who participated in LIV were not allowed to compete [on the PGA Tour] for a year? That’s what I’m thinking about more.”

Matsuyama later revealed he was surprised not only by the speed of Koepka’s reinstatement, but by the lack of communication around the Returning Member Program itself, noting that players were largely unaware such an exception existed. The issue carried personal weight for him, having turned down LIV overtures in 2022 partly due to the belief that a Tour suspension would be unavoidable.

Analyst Brandel Chamblee was also vocal. Chamblee previously argued that allowing a ‘frictionless’ return for Koepka undermines the meritocratic foundation of the Tour. He also added that Koepka was a marquee legitimizer of LIV. And allowing him to return without severe consequences sends a message that goes against the Tour. So he initially argued for a suspension or a requirement for Koepka to re-qualify through the Korn Ferry Tour or Monday Q’s.

Many pros have publicly accepted or even welcomed Koepka’s return, too.

Not everyone has a problem with Brooks Koepka’s return

For instance, Billy Horschel stated he had no problem with it. Other veterans, such as Fred Couples and Max Homa, took to social media with simple welcoming messages like “Welcome home” and “Welcome back, Brooks!”

A large number of fans have also been remarkably positive. At the Farmers Insurance Open, Koepka was greeted with significant enthusiasm rather than heckling. His wife, Jena Sims, also responded recently about the positive welcome back of the five-time major champion.

“Extremely positive. People have been 100% welcoming, from a wife’s standpoint, and also people in the gallery,” Sims said.

Even the most influential voice in the game, Tiger Woods, has recently weighed in on the situation. During recent discussions at the Genesis Invitational regarding the Tour’s upcoming scarcity model and competitive structure, Woods described Koepka’s return as a win for everyone. He emphasized that fans demanded the best players compete together. And here they have that with a world-class talent like Koepka back in the field alongside Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.

In the end, the identity of the ‘Undercover Pro’ remains a mystery. But with some more days passing, we are likely to see more direct comments from golfers, perhaps with names attached. For now, five-time major winner is set to play at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.