Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau’s PGA Tour Suspensions May Be Overturned Soon, Claims Ex-LIV Golfer

The discussions surrounding pros like Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka (possibly) returning to the PGA Tour are likely to stay here for a while, despite a lack of answers to “How can they return?” In 2022, when Jay Monahan suspended 17 pros for deserting the Tour for LIV, he told them if they wished to return to the circuit, the Tour would “approach them in the same way we have this entire process: by being transparent and respecting the PGA Tour regulations you helped establish.” Three years later, the league is anything but “transparent” about the process, and a particular case proves that.

Hudson Swafford, one of the original 17 players suspended by the PGA Tour, has been waiting years for a resolution. As he stated in 2024, Swafford is eager to return to the Tour and is willing to serve any suspension and pay fines as required. However, due to a five-year suspension starting from 2022, when he joined the competing circuit, he won’t be able to return to the PGA Tour until 2027.

Despite his repeated requests, the Tour has not provided a clear path forward for his return, a point he reiterated in a recent interview with Subpar. Swafford started off the conversation with, “I’ve had some good back and forth with the PGA Tour, but then some wishy-washy. It’s still not set in stone,” however, added that, “So there, I mean, I guess you can sign up for money qualifiers, but so really I’d be basically suspended until Q school of 27, if you will.” 

In essence, there’s little hope for Hudson Swafford or other LIV pros. This is undeniably frustrating, keeping in mind his exit from LIV Golf. Following his lackluster 2024 season, LIV Golf showed the American pro the exit, which means he is absent from the professional leagues and the Tour until 2027. On the other hand, does that have anything to do with LIV Golf pros’ contracts expiring in 2026?

Swafford has a hunch that might be the case and replies, “Yeah, you know, I, I be pure speculating, but I mean, there’s a good hunch on that. I mean, but I don’t know for sure. They have not told me that. They just said I was suspended till, you know, January of 27, so.”  So, if not now, then by 2027, the fans can expect a return of these pros? Well, if Swafford’s comments are anything to go by, such discussions are likely to gain traction in the upcoming months.

But how is suspension working in Swafford’s case? As a previous winner, Swafford might be eligible for tournament starts as a past champion. However, he believes the PGA Tour is effectively penalizing him with a one-year suspension for each of the five LIV Golf events he participated in without prior release in 2022, before he resigned from Tour membership. That means he will likely miss out on any PGA Tour event until 2027, as he stated earlier.

However, based on what the players themselves have said, a PGA Tour comeback doesn’t appear to be on the immediate horizon—at least for now.

Will Brooks Koepka or Bryson DeChambeau return to the PGA Tour

Ahead of the 2025 U.S. Open, Bryson DeChambeau stated, “We’re looking to negotiate [at the] end of this year, and I’m very excited. They see the value in me. I see the value in what they can provide, and I believe we’ll come to some sort of resolution on that. Super excited for the future.” Bryson DeChambeau is one of the prominent LIV Golf players whose contracts are up for renewal in the next 18 months. Still, it would be silly to expect the pro to leave LIV Golf.

On the other hand, despite the ongoing merger talk and a lack of transparency around the pros’ possible return to the Tour, DeChambeau wants to stick with LIV Golf to help the league create its legacy. “History is created wherever you make it. The tour started somewhere. Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan, they all won when the tour was very young. They created the history for the futures stars. Is it going to take time for LIV? Yeah. Do I see the value in the PGA Tour? Yes. Do I see the value in LIV? Yes.”

Brooks Koepka, on the other hand, has offered a more ambiguous stance. When golf legend Fred Couples claimed that Koepka wanted to return to the PGA Tour, Koepka didn’t deny it outright—but he was quick to clarify his contractual situation. “I’ve got a contract obligation… and then we’ll see what happens. I don’t know where I’m going,” Koepka said earlier this year. Though his tone was far from definitive, it did crack the door open ever so slightly. His contract, like DeChambeau’s, reportedly runs through 2026, and there’s been no confirmed movement on an early exit or application for reinstatement.

Hence, while fans may hold out hope for a dramatic return, both players are still very much entrenched in the league that sparked golf’s great divide.