They were not banned for life. Fake news. They were banned indefinitely, which naturally someone that chooses to currently go play on a different tour would be. But that doesn't mean it can't be resolved and lifted at any time.

No Laying Up said yesterday that they're hearing Brooks will be reinstated by Torrey Pines

JYDog90 said:

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No Laying Up said yesterday that they're hearing Brooks will be reinstated by Torrey Pines

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Interesting. If so, that's great news.

Yeah i read this morning it's expected to be resolved soon. Brooks' situation is a little different in that he never bad mouthed the PGAT, never sued, etc. So i'm sure there are/will be varying levels of how quickly some would be reinstated but this would get the precedent started.

https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/47590926/brooks-koepka-returning-pga-tour-new-program

Quote:

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The Returning Member Program allows LIV golfers who have been away from the PGA Tour for at least two years -- and who won the Players Championship or one of the four majors (the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship) since 2022 -- to return to the PGA Tour under certain conditions and with severe financial penalties.
The other LIV Golf competitors who are eligible to return under the program are 2024 U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm and 2022 Players Championship and Open Championship winner Cameron Smith.
The memo to PGA Tour members from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said the window for LIV golfers to apply for reinstatement under the program opened Monday and closes Feb. 2. Golfers who seek to rejoin the PGA Tour must commit to play in at least 15 co-sponsored or approved events during the 2026 season.

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Quote:

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As part of Koepka's conditions to return, according to the memo, he agreed to forfeit any player equity shares for the next five years and won't be eligible for the $100 million FedEx Cup bonus program in 2026.
Koepka, at the PGA Tour's request, also agreed to make a $5 million donation to charity.

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I like how they tailored the program just for the guys we mentioned. F all the rest. No one cares. Seems like no one other than Brooks returns right now, but Rahm and Bryson will be back at some point.

Awesome.

And here's the doc that was apparently sent out.

Here’s a document that is being distributed to players/agents on the “Returning Member Program” pic.twitter.com/AL0SDtWJlp

— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) January 12, 2026

This is great news. Great move by the tour.

DannyDuberstein said:

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I like how they tailored the program just for the guys we mentioned. F all the rest. No one cares. Seems like no one other than Brooks returns right now, but Rahm and Bryson will be back at some point.

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I don't think Bryson or Cam Smith really regret their decisions. Bryson likes doing his own thing and Cam would probably be happy fishing and drinking Foster's the rest of his life. Rahm, on the other hand, looks miserable. It will be really interesting to see if he tries to take advantage of this window. Guess we'll know in a month.

So who else will apply to come back before Feb 2?

i think bryson and rahm come back. surprised they're not allowing DJ to come back yet and i think Joaquin Neimann would also be a good one.

Agreed those as well. And Abraham ancer. Also hatton

Glad to see this. Think the penalties are fair, and I think it's smart to not delay his return to play. A suspension would be pointless, go ahead and get him back out there on Tour.

Hatton, Niemann, Ancer, etc are nice players but don't move the needle at all. It seems clear the tour is only letting bygones be bygones for legit needle movers. I get it.

Harry Stone said:

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i think bryson and rahm come back. surprised they're not allowing DJ to come back yet and i think Joaquin Neimann would also be a good one.

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I'm not sure about Bryson. I saw comments he recently made about he'd be happy just doing youtube golf. Rahm also is in a weird spot since he's invested in his team and they've won. Brooks' team never really did anything on Liv.

ETA: Bryson is also making millions on youtube. That has to play a large part on where he will play as well.

Valid points. Just think it could improve depth on tour quickly.

According to that document its for the 2026 season only. Rahm, Bryson, and Smith are all still under contract so if they want to come back this season they'll have to negotiate leaving somehow.

aggiegolfer2012 said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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If they make it easy, the floodgate to getting anyone else that matters over the next year opens and LIV basically dies. They should make it easy.

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The one thing they have going for them with Brooks (and just about anybody they'd want back) is his exemption from his PGA Championship win is still in it's 5 year time frame. Same for Rahm, Bryson and Cam Smith. Not sure who else on LIV that would apply to, you get 5 years for a major or Players win. Looking back it apply to Phil's 2021 major win, but he isn't leaving and that times out after this year.

So they could just decide that if your exemption from a win hasn't timed out, you can come back on a conditional basis or something.

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I kind of nailed outside of them throwing in a middle finger to Phil

It's not about initial regret for any of them. I don't think they regret going but I think Bryson will return when his deal is up after this year. They got their payday but also see no future with it.

One of the risks of giving them so much money to get them to come over is that they now have forever "**** you" money and more freedom to do what they want once it's been fully earned

98Ag99Grad said:

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According to that document its for the 2026 season only. Rahm, Bryson, and Smith are all still under contract so if they want to come back this season they'll have to negotiate leaving somehow.

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The PGAT will just open the program back up when they are ready

Matsui said:

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Valid points. Just think it could improve depth on tour quickly.

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But that's at the expense of a current player-who is one of the people they have to sell this plan to. Mass amnesty for a bunch of guys who left and got paid millions just so they can come back and take your spot on tour is a tough sell.

Yeah, that group can go F themselves. If you don't move the needle, you are just an avoidable headache. The tour is plenty deep on talent, less so on names. They just want the names back.

DannyDuberstein said:

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It's not about initial regret for any of them. I don't think they regret going but I think Bryson will return when his deal is up after this year. They got their payday but also see no future with it.

One of the risks of giving them so much money to get them to come over is that they now have forever "**** you" money and more freedom to do what they want once it's been fully earned

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Clearly I'm guessing here but it seems Bryson likes where he's at and prefers the schedule LIV offers to the PGAT. Now, that may certainly change if all the other big names jump ship. But he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get back to the Tour. But, he also hasn't had this offer. I'd still rank Rahm no. 1 by a mile as the guy most likely to take the offer.

I'm dating myself here but this reminds me of the guy the Cowboys cut for falling asleep during meetings, and he complained that Emmitt Smith slept during meetings too. Jimmy Johnson basically said, "you perform like Emmitt and you can sleep during meetings too. But until then, pack your bags."

Same vibes.

LIV is basically playing the same number of events that a guy like Bryson was doing before, but now he has to go all over the world for them.

Bryson's contract is thru the 2026 season and I never thought he'd bail early, but my money says he goes once the contract is up

DannyDuberstein said:

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98Ag99Grad said:

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According to that document its for the 2026 season only. Rahm, Bryson, and Smith are all still under contract so if they want to come back this season they'll have to negotiate leaving somehow.

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The PGAT will just open the program back up when they are ready

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I think so too but with escalating penalties the next time.

Does Koepka get to keep all the profits from Crush GC?

Phil getting the shaft

An open letter from PGA TOUR CEO Brian Rolapp pic.twitter.com/jiuZk1RiLp

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 12, 2026

I want to thank my family and my team for their continued support throughout every step of my professional career. When I was a child, I always dreamed about competing on the @PGATOUR, and I am just as excited today to announce that I am returning to the PGA TOUR. Being closer to… pic.twitter.com/SEIehuZN7O

— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) January 12, 2026

Thinking about this some more, I'm guessing at least one guy has already signaled he'd take the deal. Rolapp seems like a savvy guy. You would think that before announcing this publicly, he would have worked the back channels to see who else is interested. Otherwise, it's somewhat of an unforced error to do this so publicly if no one follows Brooks (they could have just reached a deal with Brooks and not created a giant neon sign for Rahm, Bryson, and Cam). I'll be surprised if at least one more guy doesn't jump.

Makes sense

If the mid guys from liv want to come back they can play their way back on tour.