Brian Rolapp Put Together a Masterclass Handling the Brooks Koepka Situation
On January 12, the PGA Tour announced the "Returning Members Program" which opens the door for the top golfers on LIV to rejoin the tour.
Last June, the PGA Tour announced that they were bringing in top NFL executive, Brian Rolapp, to takeover for former commissioner, Jay Monahan, in a new CEO role. The move was sparked by the ever-growing divide between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Rolapp’s main goal would be to re-unite the top names of the golf world. A daunting task that seemed to become more difficult by the day.
But just six months later, everything changed when five-time major winner Brooks Koepka announced that he would not be competing on LIV Golf in 2026.
The door was open for Rolapp to do what seemed to be impossible.
The momentum towards Koepka rejoining the Tour escalated quickly, and ultimately led to a formal request from his camp back on January 9.
That gets us to today where the PGA Tour announced the “Returning Members Program”, officially giving the top LIV golfers an opportunity to return.
The PGA Tour announced on social media the program is designed as an “alternative path back to PGA Tour competition or past members who have achieved the highest accomplishments in the game”.
The program is only eligible for players that have not been a member of the tour for the past two years, and have won The Players, Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, or The Open since 2022. These regulations limit the majority of LIV golfers, however gives an opportunity to a select few beyond Koepka.
Jon Rahm, Bryson Dechambeau, and Cam Smith are the only other golfers eligible for this program. Rolapp has made it clear that he only wants the biggest names on LIV, and for good reason.
These regulations may seem extremely selective (which they are), but it puts the choice in the hands of the players with the most power. Would LIV still survive without Koepka, Rahm, and Dechambeau? Maybe. But would it be a major blow for LIV’s TV ratings and overall watchability. Absolutely.
Even though the window is open for the top LIV golfers to return, it does not come without some consequence. Rolapp and his team made sure to include penalties, with the most notable being that members of the program will have to forfeit potential equity in the PGA Tour’s Player Equity Program for five years. This is a major loss for the player as it means that they will not be able to make money as a partial owner of the PGA Tour when they immediately join. Members of the program will still be able to make official and unofficial prize money through placing in tournaments throughout the season.
A major concern, when allowing LIV golfers back in fields, was taking away spots from other PGA Tour players that may be on the bubble for certain tournaments, but have been committed to the tour throughout the LIV Golf era. Rolapp made sure to acknowledge this potential issue and outlined in the program requirements that members of the new program would not impact other player’s eligibility for the field of events they participated in. This includes the FedExCup Playoffs, which are crucial towards players trying to qualify for the following year’s signature events.
The exclusivity, while also maintaining balance of consequence and fairness with the current fields, stands out within the Returning Members Program. It would have been easy to tell Koepka that he could rejoin the tour at no cost, however it would have sent ripple effects down fields, ultimately turning the Tour’s own players against Rolapp. In addition, past regimes might have wanted to make it too difficult for Koepka and others to rejoin the tour, continuing the previous punishment of a one-year suspension.
Brian Rolapp is playing offense. It is something we have not seen from the PGA Tour since LIV debuted back 2022. For the last three years the message from the PGA Tour has always been about trying to retain their own players, but here to begin 2026, Rolapp just completed a 50-yard pass to get into the redzone.
The Tour acted quickly, but precisely after Koepka’s announcement and in return the Tour is going to be rewarded. Koepka has already announced his intentions to return, adding one of the best golfers of this generation to 2026 fields as soon as the Farmers Insurance Open in a couple of weeks. More could be following soon as eligible members of the program only have until February 2 to decide to join.
For now, this a great first step in the Brian Rolapp era towards reuniting golf, and the future continues to look promising under the PGA Tour’s new leader.