Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, but not everyone is rolling out the welcome mat, sparking a firestorm that has the Tour’s new CEO in the crosshairs. The recent one comes in the column, “The Undercover Pro: How a lot of us feel about Brooks coming back,” written by an anonymous PGA Tour Pro in Golf Digest, the waters have only become muddier.

“Another thing that I do find annoying is the inflated ‘money lost’ aspect of Brooks’ penalty. We’ve been told Brooks is surrendering upward of $90 million by coming back. Some of that is real cash with known values for FedEx Cup bonuses and charity donations, but a lot of it is theoretical in player equity. Sorry to roll my eyes, but remember the nine figures he already pocketed for playing three years at LIV? That $90 million number is an insult to our intelligence,” the column noted.

Under the Returning Member Program, Koepka faces a $5 million charitable donation and a five-year forfeiture of potential equity grants. He also cannot get sponsor exemptions for signature events. While the Tour projects these losses between $50-$90 million, these are future earnings and not certain to happen. Contrarily, Koepka pocketed a signing bonus exceeding $100 million in 2022 from LIV. Additionally, he made approximately $60-70M during his time there.

For a golfer whose future was already uncertain with the ongoing changes of the PGA Tour’s scarcity model and only more affected by this sudden homecoming, a penalty comprised of unearned, theoretical future equity only looks good on paper but doesn’t equate to the actual liquid capital Koepka had already secured from LIV. And here all credit goes to the Tour Commissioner Brian Rolapp.

“However, I give Brian Rolapp [PGA Tour CEO] credit here. Why? If reunification ever materializes, the biggest challenge will be managing how LIV guys return. Many won’t have status, so how do you bring them back without inherently punishing those who stayed loyal? We don’t really need anyone from LIV Golf except for a handful of players. Rolapp’s advantage is that he’s new and can remake things as he sees fit.”

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The PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger has been long pending, with no real updates for a substantial time. The chances for it to ever get real are low, honestly, but if it does, now the Tour has a pathway (subject to change, probably after the merger) for LIV golfers like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm to return.

Now, if the same decision had been taken under the leadership of the former commissioner Jay Monahan, according to the pro, who was often seen as reactive and intent on trying to appease every faction during the LIV uprising, Brooks would still be in limbo, but Rolapp wanted Brooks, so he got Brooks.

But not everyone shares Rolapp’s enthusiasm for a frictionless return or still feels the same about Koepka’s smooth return. Wyndham Clark expressed his thoughts strongly.

“If you would have told me that I could have gone for a year and a half, made a boatload of money, and then been able to come back and play on the tour, I think almost everyone would have done that.”

Analyst Brandel Chamblee was also vocal. Chamblee previously argued that allowing a ‘frictionless’ return for Koepka undermines the meritocratic foundation of the Tour.  He also added that Koepka was a marquee legitimizer of LIV. And allowing him to return without severe consequences sends a message that goes against the Tour. So he initially argued for a suspension or a requirement for Koepka to re-qualify through the Korn Ferry Tour or Monday Q’s.

Many pros have publicly accepted or even welcomed Koepka’s return, too.

Not everyone has a problem with Brooks Koepka’s return

For instance, Billy Horschel stated he had no problem with it. Other veterans, such as Fred Couples and Max Homa, took to social media with simple welcoming messages like “Welcome home” and “Welcome back, Brooks!”

A large number of fans have also been remarkably positive. At the Farmers Insurance Open, Koepka was greeted with significant enthusiasm rather than heckling. His wife, Jena Sims, also responded recently about the positive welcome back of the five-time major champion.

“Extremely positive. People have been 100% welcoming, from a wife’s standpoint, and also people in the gallery,” Sims said.

Even the most influential voice in the game, Tiger Woods, has recently weighed in on the situation. During recent discussions at the Genesis Invitational regarding the Tour’s upcoming scarcity model and competitive structure, Woods described Koepka’s return as a win for everyone. He emphasized that fans demanded the best players compete together. And here they have that with a world-class talent like Koepka back in the field alongside Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.

In the end, the identity of the ‘Undercover Pro’ remains a mystery. But with some more days passing, we are likely to see more direct comments from golfers, perhaps with names attached. For now, 5x major winner is set to play at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.