Since leaving the PGA Tour, Brooks Koepka has a few highs and lows in his career. He won the 2023 PGA Championship and finished 2nd in the Masters that year. The former Smash GC captain also had a few dominant runs in LIV Golf. Now he has left his former employer and returned to the PGA Tour once again. But the Tour and ESPN have chosen not to recognize his hard work in the rival league.

As reported by Luke Elvy, “And this is why people despise the attitude that if it didn’t occur on the PGAT, it didn’t happen at all. Note: in the last 3 years Brooks won 5 LIV events & a major. But that doesn’t fit the narrative right?”

During a segment in the 2026 Farmers Insurance Open, the ESPN commentary team was discussing Scottie Scheffler‘s incredible win record. That’s when they mentioned, “Scheffler’s win last week, his 20th on the PGA Tour. By the way, 17 of those wins coming in the last three years and change that Koepka has been away from the game.”

The fact that the ESPN team representing the PGA Tour recognized Koepka’s time with LIV Golf as being “away from the game” is shocking. That’s what caught everyone offguard.

In fact, the internet was left infuriated at the network for disregarding Koepka’s achievements in the last three years. They were also furious at the PGA Tour for not recognizing LIV Golf despite resigning a pro from the Saudi-based league. Let’s see what they had to say.

ESPN & the PGA Tour face the heat after ignoring Brooks Koepka’s record in LIV Golf

Bringing back Brooks Koepka into the system was only the first step for Brian Rolapp & Co. to win over the fans again. But they should still recognize his efforts during his time at LIV Golf.

One of the fans believes that ESPN is not to be blamed for this. They wrote, “I’m with you Luke.. what’s even sadder is the @PGATOUR will have put strict conditions on ESPN to not mention LIV at all and pretend he just didn’t play! To say a PGA Championship winner in that period has “been away from the game” is absolute rubbish! It’s SAD!! 😢.”

As the network broadcasting PGA Tour events, ESPN must have been compelled not to recognize LIV Golf, according to the fan. It’s not the first time the Tour has not considered the PIF-funded promotion as an authorized entity. They even suspended Wesley Bryan for participating in an event associated with LIV Golf because of that.

Another fan was furious at the PGA Tour’s treatment of LIV Golf and its stars. They said, “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an entity handle a situation as poorly as PGAT handled LIV & the players I lost all interest in watching the PGAT & it as a brand.”

While Koepka is one with the Tour again, his past with the Saudi-based league is still not viewed impartially. That just puts the negative perception of LIV Golf in the PGA Tour office at display.

Questioning the ridiculous commentary, a comment read, “So, while Brooks was “away from the game”, he finished T2 in a Masters and won a PGA Championship. How does anyone take these 🤡🤡 seriously?” Another fan also added, “It’s espn and wouldn’t expect anything less from them.”

They seem to suggest that during Koepka’s time off, he managed to win the 2023 PGA Championship and also get a second-place finish in the Masters Tournament. That’s what ESPN’s statement sounds like to the layman. As the other fan suggested, the network is to blame for it. They should have had a better approach to the situation.

Lastly, a fan criticized Koepka’s recent form for it as he didn’t have anything more to show. They wrote, “i have nothing against Brooks, but he had a terrible last year. the guys on his team played better. fact. as ive said before. very few players are lifelong players. I’ll stick by that forever.”

2025 was a horrid season for the 35-year-old. He missed three of the four cuts in the majors. He did get a T12 finish in the U.S. Open last year. However, his poor run in the majors has led to a lot of issues in his game and life as well. He went through a really bad phase last year and had to apologize to his wife for mistreating his family. Now that he is back on the PGA Tour and closer to them, he will hopefully be in a better state of mind and regain his form gradually.