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ESPN
Jan 13, 2026, 07:50 PM ET
Count Tiger Woods among those thrilled to see Brooks Koepka back on the PGA Tour.
Speaking a day after Koepka's return via a new Returning Member Program was announced, Woods called it "incredible" for the PGA Tour and said he's happy that the five-time major champion will be back this season.
"It's incredible for all the fans," Woods told ESPN on Tuesday night ahead of a TGL match featuring his Jupiter Links team against New York. "The fan initiative program that we did last year, what they wanted, they want to see the best play against the best. And for Brooks to want to come back, a year early, and he was able to do that."
Koepka announced his exit from LIV Golf last month. Then Monday, the PGA Tour announced that he would be allowed back under a one-time Returning Member Program that applies only to players who have won a major or the Players Championship since 2022 (Koepka won the 2023 PGA Championship). Players must choose to do so by Feb. 2, and if they do, it's under certain conditions and with severe financial penalties.
Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith also are eligible to return to the PGA Tour via the program, but all three said Tuesday they will remain on LIV.
Koepka, meanwhile, is scheduled to make his return at the Farmers Insurance Open at the end of this month. He is also expected to play in the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale the following week.
Woods, who chairs the PGA Tour's Future Competition Committee and also is a member of the PGA Tour policy board, acknowledged that work on the pathway program back to the tour took place through the holidays and early in the new year, leading to Monday's announcement.
"There's some punitive damages there, but it's a meritocracy; that's what makes our game so great," he said. "(Koepka is) going to play full-field events, and he has the ability to earn his way up to signature events. If he's good, he's good. If he plays great, he plays great. If he wins tournaments, he wins tournaments. There's no reason why we should hold him back."
As for Woods' own return to competitive play, that is less clear.
The newly turned 50-year-old had what is believed to be his seventh back surgery Oct. 10 to replace a disk in his lower back that caused pain and mobility issues. He said Tuesday night that he's currently been cleared to just hit short- and mid-irons.
"Whenever that time comes when I start hitting drivers and I start playing at home and start doing all the different things, I will have been away from the game for a year and a half," said Woods, who last competed in a PGA Tour event at the Open Championship in July 2024. "So I will be very rusty. And so there's a lot that goes into it, so my prep is going to have to be a little bit different from my other procedures I've had in the past. I've had to stay a lot more patient with myself. I get sore faster, I guess because I'm 50. And that happens."
For now, Woods said he'll root on his Jupiter Links team, which went 1-4 in 2025, the debut season for TGL.
"I don't think we can play as bad as we did," he said. "There's only way to go, and it's up. We were the Bad News Bears and don't want to be the Bad News Bears 2."
Jupiter Links went on to lose Tuesday's match, 8-3.
