Koepka points to family matters as reason for LIV Golf exit

Brooks Koepka speaks to reporters ahead of his PGA Tour return at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Brooks Koepka admits he’s “nervous” about his PGA TOUR return this week but also excited that he’ll get to take on the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy every week as he bids to add to his major tally.

The five-time major winner returns in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, but he pointed to family issues, not LIV Golf’s competitiveness,  as the reason he decided to end his three-and-a-half-year sojourn with the Saudi-backed circuit.

“Just my family,” Koepka said of his reason for returning. “A lot's gone on over the past five, six months with my family, and that played a big, big role in coming back.”

The two-time US Open winner, who hoisted his third PGA Championship and fifth major as a LIV player at Oak Hill in 2023, explained that he began the return process around the time of the Ryder Cup.

“I'm not going to get into too much detail about the family issues that we've had, but yeah, we believe it was September, right on the Ryder Cup week,” he said.

“We had to be in New York for a little bit, and circumstances kind of changed in my family a little bit, and that's when, I guess, things started to change and evolve, and just started to have those conversations of what's best for my family.

“So we took it from there, and then me and LIV, we left that agreement. Everybody was happy with it, understood the situation I was in…

“I think on the 23rd I was released, and then I called Tiger right away, and then that process got the get the ball rolling.”

His major record has been poor by his standards over the past few seasons, with his tie for 12th in last year’s US Open at Oakmont his only top-10 finish over the past two seasons.

But he refused to blame the LIV Golf schedule for his performances, insisting: “I'm not gonna put an excuse on anything else, other than I'm the one holding the club. I'm the one who's gonna execute everything, and I just didn't do a good enough job, point blank.”

With Scheffler just requiring the US Open to complete the career Grand Slam and McIlroy joining that exclusive club by claiming his fifth major win at the Masters last season, Koepka knows it won’t be easy to take on the game’s top two.

“Obviously, Scottie, he's been dominant, I guess is probably the right word,” Koepka said. “Rory's got five [majors] now. I don't think anybody's shocked by this.

“If you've watched golf over the last few years, how well those guys are playing, and I'm excited to battle with them. I think that'll be really fun.

“I think just the competitive side of me obviously wants to do a little bit better, but I mean, that's going to be very tough to do better than Scottie right now.”

As for the politics of golf and the PGA Tour’s battle with LIV, he didn’t ant to comment.

“I'm two days in, so I don't really know,” he said when asked if the PGA TOUR is better now as a Tour than it was when he left to go to LIV.

On whether the PGA Tour should welcome more LIV players back, he said: “I'm not trying to get into the politics of it all. I'm just happy that I have this opportunity and I need to take advantage of it. That's all I'm really focused on and going back and playing golf.”

As to whether peace will ever prevail in golf’s civil war, he was equally lacking in any desire to comment.

“I have no clue. I've not been a part of the conversations on either side,” he said/ “It's out of my hands and my job is to go play golf and tee it up on Thursday.”

While he’d been well received on his arrival in La Jolla, the Floridian (35) is aware that not all players or fans will welcome him back with open arms.

“I'm definitely a little bit more nervous this week, just coming back, but it feels good,” he said. “I'm super grateful to be back.

“There are a lot of guys I don't know. Over the past, I guess three and a half years, there’s a lot of new faces, but I'm excited to meet those guys and feel like I'm part of the tour.”

He’s also anxious to see how the fans react.

“Maybe I'm a little nervous about that as well,” he confessed. “You know, I hope that they're excited. I hope that they're happy that I'm out here.”

He said that becoming a father has “made me grow as a person” but he insisted he had no regrets about signing for LIV, where he won twice.

“I don't regret anything I do,” he said. “I've learned a lot, and I've always enjoyed the ride no matter where I'm at… So I have no regrets, but at the same time, I'm excited for this new chapter. Grateful to be out here. For (CEO) Brian Rolapp, (Commissioner) Jay (Monahan) Tiger, everybody who was able to get me out here, I'm super grateful for, and I'm excited.”