PGA Tour faces backlash over stupid Koepka | Golf News

Brooks Koepka rejoined the PGA Tour through the Returning Members Program forward of the 2026 season, but one consequence of his return left followers annoyed this week.

Koepka’s return got here with sure restrictions imposed by the Tour, including a $5 million charitable donation and no assured entry into Signature occasions. He was required to fulfill at least one exemption criterion, such as ending among the top 50 gamers in the 2025 FedExCup standings through the Tour Championship, in order to compete in this week’s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. It comes as Rory McIlroy offers up $1.9M of Masters winnings proper after defending Green Jacket.

Heading into Thursday, Koepka was listed as the first alternate for the match, forcing him to wait practically 5 hours for a potential withdrawal. Keith Mitchell and Taylor Moore discovered themselves in a related place, as both gamers would have entered the sphere had Koepka been cleared to tee off under the Returning Member Program.

That alternative never materialized, and all three gamers departed without hitting a single shot.

Fans had been outraged that the five-time major winner was barred from competing, taking to social media to voice their displeasure. One fan wrote, “Why the hell is he not in the field? There’s 10 nobodies that we won’t see a single shot from all week.” The RBC Heritage options a limited-field Signature event on Tour, with 82 professionals competing for a share of the $20 million prize fund.

“Why not put all 3 in the field? 70-man fields are a joke and need to end immediately,” one fan wrote, while another added, “So stupid. Just let all of these guys in.”

Since his return to the Tour, Koepka has delivered a sequence of spectacular performances, recording a T-12 end at Augusta National and a top-10 consequence at the Cognizant Classic in Florida.

“Sad. What a joke of an organization,” one critic wrote. “PGA fined him, made him apologize, donated to charity, embarrassed him, cut him off from signature events and basically took away his manhood, all while still using his name and face at every opportunity for profit. Sleezy organization.”

Koepka agreed to decline sponsor invites to Signature Events upon rejoining the Tour three months in the past, and must qualify through designated play-in classes, including the Aon Next 10, Aon Swing 5, OWGR top 30, or a full-field event victory.

“I’m just enjoying the game a whole lot more,” Koepka remarked at the Masters. “I think there’s a huge difference if I’m excited to come out and play every week. It is just overall, if your happiness is through the roof off the golf course and on the golf course, it’s really tough to beat it. You’re to enjoy every day, everything you’re doing.”