Brooks Koepka's return to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf sparked a lot of headlines earlier this year. Back then, several golfers expressed their opinions about it, but Tom Watson saved his views until the Masters, and he didn't sound like a fan of the Tour's decision.

Watson hit his honorary tee shot on the morning of March 9 at the Augusta National. Subsequently, the eight-time major winner strongly criticized the PGA Tour for bringing Brooks Koepka back, and he made his opinion very clear.

"I thought the LIV players, when they left, were supposed to be banned for life," Watson said. "When the players left, they violated the No. 1 rule that we really had out here, which is to protect the sponsors. To return to the Tour, I thought, was a nonstarter, but apparently it's not."

Koepka walked back onto PGA Tour property in January at the Farmers Insurance Open, four years after jumping to LIV. Patrick Reed gets his turn next year, but Watson thinks neither should have been allowed back without any conditions.

But what the 76-year-old stressed was to make them qualify through the Korn Ferry Tour and earn it back. "If I was the commissioner, that's what I'd do," he said.

The loyalty argument sits at the centre of all this, and the Players who stayed on the PGA Tour through the messy years of the schism were told departures would carry consequences. Watson feels the Tour walked that back quietly. 

However, the transition of the LIV Golfers to the PGA Tour required the authorities to introduce an all-new program.

The PGA Tour's Returning Member Program

Actually, Koepka returned in January when the tour introduced a program called the Returning Member Program. The major condition to qualify for it was that the player had to win a major or the Players Championship between 2022 and 2025.

As a result, four LIV Golf associates, namely, Kopeka, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Cameron Smith, were deemed eligible to return to the Tour. However, Koepka eventually became the only one who made the move, with the three others deciding to continue their LIV Golf tenure.

However, returning to the PGA Tour might be more difficult or even impossible for others, as the Returning Member Program had a limited window from January 2 to February 12, 2026. Brian Rolapp, the Tour's CEO, had already said, "Once the door closes, there is no promise that this path will be available again."

So, given Watson's discontent with the Tour allowing Koepka's return, he might stay relaxed, as the same probably wouldn't happen anytime soon.

But, do you think the PGA Tour made the right call to open up a window allowing the re-entry of certain LIV Golf players? Tell us in the comments!

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Souvik Roy