Brian Rolapp’s First Big Bet as PGA CEO Could Reshape Professional Golf
Does Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour signal the beginning of the end for LIV Golf?
The PGA Tour announced on Monday that it's willing to let bygones be bygones, that defectors to the LIV Golf Tour will be welcomed back with open arms. Thus ends a five-year saga that at times felt like it would go on forever. Of course, the news arrived with a few caveats.
One, the Tour is only willing to look past these indiscretions by players deemed traitors if they fit into very specific criteria. Namely, according to an ESPN report , golfers will be allowed back from LIV if they “have been away from the PGA Tour for at least two years and have won the Players Championship or one of the four majors (the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and Open Championship) since 2022.” The memo sent by PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp also mentions significant financial penalties.
So, if you’re one of three golfers who have won the Players since 2022, one of three Masters winners in that span, one of the last four PGA Championship winners, one of four U.S. Open winners since 2022, and one of four recent British Open winners, you are eligible to qualify for the Returning Member Program.
Of those winners, only four defected to LIV since it emerged in 2021: Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Cam Smith. These are, arguably, the four players the Tour would be most willing to end this war over. Some coincidence!
Rather than end the war, though, the PGA Tour has done something relatively remarkable for an often tepid organization. The PGA made a bold move, one that will invigorate its investors, alienate its middle class, and make the game significantly more exciting. If they’re able to lure back each of these four players, it’s hard to imagine LIV functioning at its full capacity much longer—a capacity, it must be noted, that is hemorrhaging money and attracting a pitiful level of interest from golf fans.
The shocking, sport-shifting news was announced in conjunction with the Tour taking back one of its biggest stars, Brooks Koepka. The five-time major winner was always an awkward fit at LIV, never willing to embrace the “us vs. them” mentality so many of its biggest stars employed. When he shared news of his departure from the league on December 23rd, the PGA Tour was put in an uncomfortable position. Would they ignore precedent and allow Koepka to seamlessly transition back into the Tour, potentially alienating the sport’s highly competitive field and its biggest stars, players like Rory McIlroy, who defended the Tour in the face of the LIV threat? Or would the organization, headed by new boss Rolapp, make each superstar who left the rogue league face a similar punishment to Hudson Swafford , who was given an excessively harsh five year suspension?
Additional aspects of the Returning Member Program were relayed in the document, which states that LIV golfers who meet the criteria can apply for reinstatement through the program until February 2. By doing so, they also “must commit to play in at least 15 co-sponsored or approved events during the 2026 season.” Added Rolapp: “This is a one-time, defined window and is not a precedent for future situations. Once the door closes, there is no promise that this path will be available again.”
Rolapp, in his first significant gambit as the Tour’s new CEO, is allowing Rahm, Dechambeau, and Smith to return to the big leagues in Koepka’s footsteps, but they’ve got to make their decisions quickly. Additionally, all players accepted back onto the PGA Tour will face serious financial sanctions, too.
“Forfeiting five years of potential equity in our Player Equity program represents one of the largest financial repercussions in professional sports history — our estimations are that Brooks could miss out on approximately $50 [million]-$85 million in potential earnings depending on his competitive performance and the growth of the tour,” Rolapp added in the memo. While that’s likely an exaggerated number, the penalty is a gesture to all the current Tour members, a way of saying, ‘Yes, we’re allowing these players back, but they’ll be forced to pay for the way they fractured the sport.’ It’s a trade Koepka will be happy to make considering he earned an estimated $165 million during his five years with LIV.
What Rolapp and the Tour executives have made clear with this ultimatum is that growth and aggressive, consistent returns for their shiny new investors is paramount. Stars like Koepka, Dechambeau, Rahm, and, to a lesser extent, Smith, in conjunction with a severely strained LIV, is seemingly more important than potentially betraying the athletes who have come to defend the sanctity of the Tour in the face of the LIV threat. It’s hard to blame Rolapp, and it’s an exciting move from a fan’s perspective, one that alleviates some of the anger that bubbled up from rumors that the company will be permanently removing a beloved Hawaii event from future Tour schedules.
According to a tweet from Adam Schupak , the Tour’s contractors are already reacting to news of Koepka’s imminent return (and who else may be coming in his wake). Schupak wrote, “I’m not at the Sony Open this year, but I talked to someone who is and said more players on their phones than hitting balls at the range. Lots of chatter about Brooks coming back. Jason Gore, the player turned Tour exec, I’m told is getting an earful.”
The opinions of the rank and file are less important than those of stars like McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and even Tiger Woods, so it’s hard to imagine this offer was created without significant input from its biggest athletes. It’s unclear whether Brian Rolapp’s first gamble as CEO will pay off, but it has certainly made the beginning of the 2026 PGA Tour season a lot more interesting. LIV, which once operated under the catchphrase Golf, But Louder , might soon be drowned out by its big brother. Its updated catchphrase, “Long LIV Golf,” might have just become even more ironic.
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