A call to Tiger, an emotional reunion

LA JOLLA, Calif. – The most interesting part of Brooks Koepka’s first PGA Tour press conference back? How scared he was that he would be there.

“I’m really nervous this week just coming back,” he said as he settled in front of a group of reporters at the Farmers Insurance Open news center shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday. “But it feels good. I’m so grateful to be back.”

It’s understandable that someone in Koepka’s position would be nervous. He is the first LIV golfer to return to the PGA Tour. He is at the center of a geopolitical golf struggle. You know some Tour pros feel like you got off easy. And he’s not sure how fans will greet his return. You will definitely have butterflies.

“I think the panic was more about this, getting this out of the way to get it right,” he said, referring to his media duties.

That was the only surprising episode; this is Koepka, whose name doesn’t care what other people think. Although there were signs that Koepka — “I don’t regret anything I do … I’ve always enjoyed riding no matter where I am,” he said — mostly humble, humble, optimistic. And he admitted that what other people thought worried him.

“I’m just happy that – maybe I’ll come on Thursday so I can get back to playing golf and that’s when I feel the most comfortable. But I was nervous because of this,” he said.

“Just my family”

What brought Brooks back? That was the question on everyone’s mind. His journey LIV was undoubtedly complicated; leaving means the end of his contract early and termination of the captaincy of the team. There were layers of discussion and decision. But he kept his explanation simple, and full of sorrow.

“Just my family. A lot has happened in the last five, six months with my family. That played a big role in my return,” he said.

Last fall, Koepka’s wife Jena Sims wrote about her miscarriage at 16 weeks. “Many times, these conflicts happen silently,” he wrote. “We are sad, but we always hope to give.” [their son] Ask your sibling one day.”

Koepka appeared to be referring to that loss.

“Just being with my family is very important,” he said. “I’ve grown a lot in the last few years, especially in the last few months. Just being able to be close to them means a lot to me.”

While playing the PGA Tour doesn’t necessarily mean playing fewer tournaments than he would on the LIV, Koepka said the US-centric Tour will allow the whole family to travel together more often.

“I think the ability to have my family out all the time,” he said, when asked if he missed the PGA Tour. “Because they haven’t gone very far in the last couple of years, but they’re going to come out this week, so I’m really excited to be able to take them out.”

“Call me Tiger”

Koepka has made it clear that he has no interest in promoting the LIV-PGA Tour pot. He thanked the leadership of LIV, saying “he is very grateful for Yasir [Al-Rumayyan, PIF governor and LIV chairman] and Scott [O’Neil, LIV CEO] the way they handled things.”

And he didn’t want to talk dollars, cents or negotiating terms.

“I would like to keep all that inside,” she said.

But he gave a rough timeline of events.

In the fall, he began discussing “what’s best for my family.” Finally on December 23 he and the leadership of LIV reached an agreement; he was released. Then?

“Ngwe called me [Woods] right away, that got the ball rolling,” Koepka said.

Why Woods?

“I’ve always had a good relationship with Tiger … That was the first person that came to mind like that,” he said. “I didn’t know [PGA Tour CEO] Brian [Rolapp]I didn’t have a relationship with him, obviously, because he was young. And Jay [Monahan] it would be the next call. I felt like Tiger was someone I had relied on in the past for questions and answers and how to approach things and I felt like that was a very comfortable call for me. “

As for Woods’ reaction? Koepka expanded on that in an interview with SiriusXM’s Gravy and Sleeze.

“Eh, I don’t know,” he said with a laugh. “He’s very good at keeping a game face, as we all know from watching him over the years. So his voice didn’t really change when I told him. But, yeah, it was an interesting conversation. And I think he was really happy at the end to try to get me back and get me out. I think he played a big part in this and, you know, I owe him a lot.”

According to Koepka, he didn’t have a timeline or specific expectations for a return – but Rolapp wasn’t interested in waiting. Thursday night, Jan. 8, Koepka called the CEO, who asked if he could meet the next day at Ponte Vedra Beach, where he entered Tour HQ through a side door.

“I was willing to do whatever it took, whatever the punishment,” Koepka said. A few hours later the Tour made good on its promise, launching a Returning Member Program to welcome him back; Koepka said he was “obviously very happy with the decision they made.”

And here he is.

“Unbelievably big thing”

Koepka sounded nervous about his reception from some of his peers; he expects difficult discussions. But mostly he was surprised by the way the players were happy with his return.

“I think it says more about Brooks than anything else,” Rory McIlroy said Tuesday after the TGL. “Obviously he’s a very competitive person and he wants to compete at the highest level. I think he made a decision that he thought competing at the highest level meant getting back on the PGA Tour … and obviously that’s a great thing on the PGA Tour.”

Next to him, Keegan Bradley was very effective.

“I think it’s an unbelievably good thing that Brooks is coming back. When I heard the news, I was happy. Brooks is an amazing competitor and someone who really helps the PGA Tour,” he said. “I’m not very happy about him, I’m happy about the Tour, too [he’s] another guy who I think can help the Tour go somewhere else. I am very happy for him.”

While others were less enthusiastic — “I don’t really like it, I have a lot of opinions about it,” Shane Lowry said — watching Koepka walk Torrey Pines was a reminder that, in general, Tour players see his return as a win for their round.

“It was great to see you, I’m glad you’re back. Yeah, I’d say maybe 15 guys,” Koepka said Tuesday morning. “To see guys, I mean I’m surprised by the messages I get from guys on both sides and it means a lot to me, like I said, thank you, I’m happy and I want to get back to playing golf.”

Now comes golf. Koepka travels on Thursday along with Max Homa and Ludwig Aberg. Not counting the majors, it will be his first start on the PGA Tour since March 2022, when he finished T5 in the WGC-Match Play. In that event, his last two matches were against Jon Rahm (win) and Dustin Johnson (loss). The two are now in LIV. So was Koepka.

Now he is back.

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