Less than 24 hours after Brooks Koepka‘s LIV Golf exit sent shockwaves through the golf world, Jena Sims posted an Instagram poll about an entirely different kind of “debate” she and her husband get into around the holiday season.

“Major debate in the Koepka household. Did ‘Santa’ wrap your gifts, or were they as is?” wrote Jena Sims on her Instagram story on Christmas Eve with two poll options saying, “All gifts wrapped” or “No gifts from Santa wrapped, only parents.”

The 2025 Christmas marks the Koepka family’s third festival with little Crew. Their 2025 holiday celebration started early, as she shared frames of her adventures around the Big Apple with Brooksie and Crew a couple of days ago. They stayed at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel and clicked pictures in front of an immaculate Christmas tree covered in ornaments, along with enjoying scrumptious food and drinks. They brought their toddler to meet Santa, enjoyed some pizza, and shared a massive ice cream sundae back at their hotel room.

The festive question comes a day after LIV Golf announced that Koepka would depart from LIV after an amicable and mutual agreement. Scott O’Neil stated, and the golfer himself mentioned that the decision comes as Brooks will now prioritize his family. Notably, the 5x major champion walked away from his contract with one year remaining, becoming the first marquee star to voluntarily leave the Saudi-backed league since its 2022 inception.

The irony lands hard. Analysts warned his departure could trigger a domino effect, destabilizing LIV’s foundation. The external noise reached a fever pitch. Inside their home, the only crisis involved Santa’s gift presentation standards. But beyond the lighthearted Instagram content lies a far more consequential question: What happens next?

Koepka joined LIV Golf in June 2022 with a contract reportedly worth around $100 million. He won the 2023 PGA Championship during his tenure, adding a fifth Major to a collection that already included two US Opens and two PGA Championships. Yet his 2025 season told a different story. He went winless on the LIV circuit, finished 30th in the individual standings, and missed cuts at the Masters, PGA Championship, and Open Championship. His best major result came at the US Open—a tie for 12th.

Now, the PGA Tour faces a decision it has delayed for three years, as current rules mandate a one-year suspension from a player’s last LIV event. Koepka’s final appearance came in August 2025, making August 2026 his earliest eligibility window. But again, eligibility doesn’t guarantee entry. The Tour has no codified readmission policy for high-profile defectors—only an unwritten rule forged in the emotional heat of 2022’s exodus.

But that ambiguity may not survive much longer as Tiger Woods now chairs the Future Competition Committee, redesigning the PGA Tour’s competitive model alongside CEO Brian Rolapp.  Readmitting Koepka now wouldn’t signal capitulation. LIV paid for his development; the Tour collects the upside.

Koepka’s departure also leaves a vacancy that extends beyond his own future.

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Brooks Koepka’s LIV Golf exit hands Talor Gooch the Smash GC captaincy

Koepka’s departure also leaves a vacancy that extends beyond roster logistics. He wasn’t just Smash GC’s captain—he was its commercial identity, the face that gave the franchise legitimacy. Now, Talor Gooch inherits that responsibility.

Gooch earned his credentials through performance. He captured three victories during his standout 2023 campaign and claimed the season-long individual title, collecting an $18 million payday in the process. He possesses the résumé to lead. Whether he can replicate Koepka’s gravitational pull remains uncertain.

Yet inside a home likely nestled in Jupiter, Florida, none of that noise penetrates. The Christmas tree stands. The Instagram polls circulate. The “Major debate” rages on.

Brooks Koepka secured his legacy long ago. Five Majors guaranteed that. Now he’s traded one kind of Major for another—and the golf world will spend the next eight months deciding whether to let him back into the old arena.