Tiger Woods jumps to defend Brooks Koepka move

Dubai: Amid the dissenting voices within the PGA Tour community on Brooks Koepka’s return from LIV Golf, Tiger Woods, the central figure among player directors on the PGA Tour's policy board, has sprung to the defence of the ‘Returning Member Programme’.

On Wednesday, former US Open champion Wyndham Clark said he was frustrated Koepka could make millions in LIV Golf and then return to the PGA Tour, and he thinks several other players might have left for the rival league if they had known they could come back.

Clark said that he received an offer from LIV in 2024, a year after winning the US Open. “And if you would have told me that I could have gone for a year-and-a-half, make a boatload of money and then be able to come back, play on the tour, I think almost everyone would have done that," he said.

"So it's a little frustrating that happened. Are people going to now see what the tour has done and then go do that anyways? You know, they reach out to LIV and say, 'Hey, I want to come play LIV,' knowing that hey, you go take a bag for a year or two and you're able to come back. Yeah, it's an interesting decision because I think there could be guys that have that mindset and kind of challenge the system and then come back say, 'Well, you let Brooks do this, why can't I do it?'"

Different opinion

Woods, expectedly, had a different opinion: "We're not going to satisfy everyone. We know that. But the whole idea is to make our tour better than what it was. With Brooks' addition to tour, it does. It makes it a better place to play. Now with players who have earned equity – and there are four more years of potential earning of equity for these players – the fact that they own the tour, if Brooks plays, it puts more money in their pocket. It's a win for everyone."

Clark added that he likes Koepka and believes the decision was good for the PGA Tour – and ultimately for him if Koepka's return adds value –

but he wishes there had been more repercussions.

The deadline to return for three others – Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith – expires on February 2. All three have said they are staying with LIV Golf.

Clark said of the hard deadline, "I just hope they stick with that and they don't waiver on that maybe in like a year or two."