There’s a difference between a guy showing up to play golf and a guy walking back into the room after he slammed the door on the way out.
That’s why this story is hitting nerves.
Because if you stayed, if you turned down the LIV money, if you kept grinding through the long flights, the missed cuts, the weeks where your bank account and your confidence are both sweating, you deserve one thing from the PGA Tour.
Clarity.
The loyalty test nobody wanted
Brooks Koepka is a five-time major champion. He’s also the poster child for the modern golf reality: Take the biggest check, then chase the biggest legacy.
When he left for LIV, he did what a lot of guys did. He took the payday. That was the move.
Now he wants back in, and the PGA is letting him.
So here’s the question that matters to the guys who stayed loyal.
What was loyalty worth?
Put yourself in the locker room
Imagine you’re a Tour pro who said no to LIV. You stayed. You played by the rules. You watched the departures. You heard all the speeches about tradition, family, and the soul of the Tour.
And now the guy who left for the cash strolls back in and gets a tee time like it’s no big deal. That’s the part fans underestimate. Players feel that in their bones.
They hate the precedent. And I don’t blame them.
What this says about the PGA Tour
I’m going to say the quiet part out loud. This comes down to money.
The PGA Tour wants the ratings. They want the headlines. They want the star power.
And if they can get that by welcoming back a name like Koepka, the moral speeches get real flexible, real fast.
If you want a clean explainer on the bigger chess match, read how the PGA vs LIV rivalry turned into a business war.
The story goes deeper. And if you want the simple version of why LIV pulled so many guys in the first place, here’s why the LIV money changed everything.
Two sides, both understandable
I get the argument for letting him back.
- More competition makes the product better.
- Fans want the best players in the biggest events.
- Golf has always been about earning your spot with your game.
That all sounds clean. That all sounds fair.
But here’s the other side, and it’s the one that’s going to keep boiling over.
- If leaving has no consequence, loyalty becomes a punchline.
- If you can take the check, then come back for the legacy, the Tour’s standards are negotiable.
- If the Tour calls itself a family, families do not pretend nothing happened.
This is not a technical debate. This is a values debate.
If you left for the money, own it
My issue isn’t that a player chose money. Plenty of people would. Golf careers are short. Bodies break. Windows close.
My issue is the rewrite.
If you left for the money, own it. Do not come back expecting the story to turn you into a conquering hero. You are not the victim. You made the choice.
And the Tour needs to stop acting shocked that players and fans are calling this hypocritical.
The PGA Tour needs to pick a standard and stick to it
If the PGA wants an open-door policy, fine. Say it with your chest. Put it in writing. Make it consistent.
If the PGA wants loyalty to mean something, also fine. Then draw the line and live with the short-term pain.
But the worst option is what we’re watching now, a case-by-case welcome that looks a lot like star treatment.
If you want to understand how the Tour is structured and who actually makes these calls, start with who runs the PGA Tour and how the power works.
How do the galleries react?
This is where it gets interesting. Fans can smell a storyline, and this one is pure fuel.
Some people will cheer because they want the biggest names back on the biggest stage.
Some people will boo because they think the sport just taught everyone a lesson, take the money now, ask forgiveness later.
And plenty of people will just watch, because controversy sells and golf is not immune anymore.
Also, one quick note that matters when people argue about “the PGA” like it’s one giant entity, it’s not. If you’ve ever been confused by that, read the difference between the PGA Tour and the PGA of America and it’ll clear up a lot of sloppy arguments.
So what should happen?
If you’re asking me, the Tour can let him play, but it should stop pretending there’s no cost.
Because if there’s no cost, there’s no loyalty. And if there’s no loyalty, the Tour’s “family” pitch is just marketing.
This week already feels like a pressure cooker. Here’s why Torrey Pines turns a regular tournament into a major-style test. That’s the backdrop. That’s what we’re looking forward to.
So, if you’re standing on the first tee, do you shake Brooks’ hand?
Do you cheer him, boo him, or shrug and say, “This is modern golf, get used to it”?
Drop your take, because this debate is not going away.
Clint is PGA-certified and was a Head Teaching Professional at one of Toronto's busiest golf academies. He was also featured on Canada's National Golf TV program, "Score Golf Canada," twice. He graduated with a degree in Golf Management from the College of the Desert in California and studied under Callaway's co-founder, Tony Manzoni. He has a handicap index of 6.2 and spends the winters near Oaxaca, Mexico, where he plays twice a month at the Club de Golf Vista Hermosa. He's written over 100 articles at GolfSpan since 2021. You can connect with Clint at LinkedIn, FB, his website, or Clintcpga@gmail.com.
