Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka announced on Tuesday that he is leaving LIV Golf, trading lucrative millions to spend more time with his family. What’s next for the golf superstar? Will the PGA Tour bring him back, even without any suspensions?
Brooks Koepka was the poster child for LIV Golf when he left the PGA Tour in 2022 for the breakaway group funded by Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. Now the five-time major champion who is one of the most popular players in golf is leaving LIV — despite having a year left on what was reported to be a $100 million contract.
According to a statement from LIV Golf, the breakup is “amiable” and that Koepka is stepping away from the tour to “prioritizing the needs of his family and staying closer to home.”
The 35-year-old Koepka, a Florida State grad who has won back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2017 and 2018 plus three PGA Championships, has not played well for the past couple of seasons. He missed the cut in three of four majors this year — the only events he gets to play with PGA Tour players — and his desire to travel less may be because he wants to be home with his family more.
He and his wife Jena have one child, and she posted on Instagram earlier this year that she had had a miscarriage.
LIV's official statement on his departure
“Brooks Koepka will be stepping away from LIV Golf,” according to a statement from his management team released by LIV Golf. “He is deeply grateful to Yasir Al-Rumayyan (the governor of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, (LIV CEO) Scott O’Neil, and the LIV Golf leadership team, his teammates and the fans.
“Family has always guided Brooks’ decisions, and he feels this is the right moment to spend more time at home. Brooks will continue to be a huge supporter of LIV Golf and wishes the league and its players continued success. Brooks remains passionate about the game of golf and will keep fans updated on what’s ahead.”
LIV Golf has been a failure thus far when it comes to attracting golf fans to its events, despite the Saudis spending billions of dollars to attract players like Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson and more. Their team format hasn't resonated with fans at all.
Their TV rankings are about 1/50th of the PGA Tour on a typical Sunday, and only DeChambeau has retained a high profile. Negotiations have been ongoing for several years about the two leagues working together, but nothing has happened yet and the PGA Tour seems to have lost any interest in putting together a mutual deal.
Money for players has exploded on both tours, and Koepka is the first to leave LIV. They have been unable to sign any prominent PGA Tour players the past two years.
It's unclear — as of now — what Koepka's golf future looks like. The PGA Tour issued a polite yet vague statement on Tuesday wishing Koepka and his family well.
LIV's 2026 schedule begins in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the first six events are outside the U.S., which makes Koepka's travel concerns make a lot of sense. Koepka has won five LIV Golf events, but none since August of 2024.
There was nothing in the statement released Tuesday that Koepka would want to rejoin the PGA Tour, but it seems like an obvious move so he could play closer to his Florida home.
The PGA Tour has always talked about suspensions for LIV defectors who may wish to return, but it's unclear how they would handle Koepka's situation now. Granting him a return without a suspension would crush LIV, and might open the door for others to leave, too.
The 2026 PGA Tour season starts on Jan. 15 with the Sony Open in Hawaii.