When Brooks Koepka was 12, he told his parents on the drive home from a high school match that he wanted to quit school at 16 and turn pro. His father, Bob Koepka, pulled the car over and told him he had to finish high school, go to college, and only then turn pro if he was good enough. Brooks listened. He went to Florida State and went on to win five major titles. Now, in 2026, he is set to share the course with his father in a different role. Brooks Koepka’s PNC Championship debut is official, and Bob will be his playing partner.
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The PNC Championship’s Instagram account broke the news with a graphic reading “Team Koepka: Son & Father.” The caption said, “5x Major Champion Brooks Koepka joins the field.” On the graphic, Koepka said: “I’m looking forward to a truly special week with my dad, and making some great memories together.”
This is a player who said in 2018 he couldn’t care less about being overlooked. Here, the stated goal is memories, not a trophy.
Koepka’s father, Bob Koepka, didn’t come from golf. He grew up in Bridgeport, West Virginia, and pitched at West Virginia Wesleyan. He never had a formal lesson, yet he taught himself his way to scratch and then introduced the game to Brooks and his brother Chase. He’s also been in the front row for the big days. Brooks won his first major at the 2017 U.S. Open on Father’s Day.
Bob told ESPN, “I just hope every father out there gets to experience something like this.” A year later at Shinnecock Hills, Bob was there again for the repeat. Brooks said, “He’s the one who got me started in golf.”
And Bob isn’t shy. In 2019, he went after Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee on social media, asking, “And you question Brooks’ toughness?” Expect him to hold his own in front of the PNC cameras.
The PNC Championship started in 1995 as a father-son event. Today, it brings together major or Players Championship winners and a family member for a 36-hole event. The tournament uses a scramble format, where both players hit a shot, the team picks the better one, and both play their next shots from that spot. The family member playing with the champion cannot be a touring professional. The event runs from December 17-20.
By the event’s rules, Brooks Koepka could have qualified since his first major in 2017. Nothing in the announcement explains why he’s coming now. What we do know is that he’s a father himself, and that his son Crew was at St Andrews to watch his season-ending eagle.
Koepka won’t be the first star to bring his dad. The closest comparison may be Justin Thomas. He won in 2020 with his father Mike, the first winning team where the father was the guest partner. It was the fifth debut victory in the event’s history, and Justin and Mike beat Vijay and Qass Singh by a shot. The event also gives fans moments they remember. Charlie Woods made a hole-in-one alongside Tiger in 2024, only for the Woodses to lose a playoff to Bernhard Langer and his son Jason. Last year Matt Kuchar and his son Cameron won with a record 33-under 111.
Other fathers have played the partner role too. Nelly Korda has played with her father Petr, a former pro tennis player. Gary Woodland brought his dad Dan in 2025, filling the spot Tiger left open. It’s too early to say, but this doesn’t look like a novelty pairing. A scramble rewards a team that can keep putting good shots in play, and Bob is a self-taught scratch player. For Brooks’s part, he ranked second in strokes gained: approach through his first eight starts back on the PGA Tour, which is the skill a scramble leans on most. The pressure is also very different from what he’s faced all year.
He returned to the Tour in January through the Returning Member Program. He finished 12th at the Masters and 55th at the PGA Championship. The season ended with an eagle on the 18th at St Andrews with his son Crew watching. That’s the kind of moment a December week with Dad could add to.
Years ago, a father pulled a car over to set the rules. This December he gets to tee it up beside the son who followed them. Whether Team Koepka wins the Willie Park Trophy matters less than the fact that Brooks chose this week at all. If the memories are as good as he’s promised, it might be the best result he gets all year.