Back from LIV Golf, Brooks Koepka looks for a sixth major at Shinnecock

Brooks Koepka never fit neatly into golf’s defined lanes. Not when he rose to become the most feared major champion of his era. Not when he left the PGA Tour at the height of his powers. And not now, with his LIV Golf chapter behind him and another pivot already underway.

If there is a single moment that captures both his impact and contradiction, it came at Oak Hill in May 2023.

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Koepka’s victory at the PGA Championship wasn’t just his fifth major — it was, in many ways, the defining moment in the history of LIV Golf.

A year earlier, he had been publicly skeptical of the breakaway league. Then he joined it anyway. What followed were four seasons on a circuit that challenged golf’s structure and tested its traditions. But it was Koepka, more than anyone, who gave LIV its first true sense of legitimacy on the biggest stage.

Winning at Oak Hill, he became the first player competing exclusively on LIV Golf to capture a major championship. It answered the loudest criticism facing the league — that players in a 54-hole, shotgun-start format couldn’t replicate the sharpness required to win majors. Koepka didn’t just contend. He closed.

Brooks Koepka is congratulated by golf instructor Claude Harmon III as he walks off the 18th green during the final round of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on May 21, 2023 in Rochester, New York. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

And the timing mattered. A month earlier, he had carried the 54-hole lead at the Masters before Jon Rahm surged past him on Sunday. At Oak Hill, there was no such slip. The Koepka who once owned major championships returned — controlled, composed, and ruthlessly efficient.

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Brooks Koepka’s win was huge for LIV Golf

For LIV, it was a form of validation. His performance helped open the door for major acquisitions like Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. It proved the league could produce some relevance, not just disruption.

Individually, Koepka thrived in that environment. Five LIV titles. Playoff wins. A resume on the circuit that, in a twist of irony, grew deeper than his PGA Tour win total outside the majors.

And yet, even at the height of that success, he never fully seemed part of it.

Koepka was one of the few LIV players willing to publicly acknowledge the league’s growing pains.

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“We all hoped it would have been further along,” he said last year.

He never fully embraced the team concept, even as captain of Smash GC. He clashed with teammate Matthew Wolff, calling out his work ethic and sparking a public back-and-forth that eventually led to a roster change. He didn’t wear LIV-branded gear, tied instead to his Nike agreement. For all his success, Koepka remained somewhat detached — present, but never fully invested.

It reinforced what has always been true: Koepka operates best as a lone wolf.

That identity defined his rise — a five-time major champion, 47 weeks as world No. 1, and a two-year stretch where he was the sport’s most dominant force. But it also defined his time away from the PGA Tour, when his legacy became a subject of debate.

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His major win at Oak Hill pushed back against those questions. But what followed reopened them.

Since that victory, Koepka’s form had dipped. His results in majors have slipped from near inevitability to inconsistency, a stark contrast to his peak years. He hasn’t hidden from it.

“I’m the one holding the club,” he said. “I just didn’t do a good enough job.”

Still, the biggest shift in his life wasn’t happening on the course.

Koepka got married, lost unborn child

In the months surrounding his LIV debut, Koepka’s world changed. He married Jena Sims. Then came the birth of their son, Crew. Then, heartbreak — the loss of an unborn child at 16 weeks, a moment that reshaped priorities beyond golf.

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Family, once secondary to competition, moved to the center.

“It had nothing to do with golf,” Koepka said of what he missed most during his time away. “Just my family.”

LIV promised more time at home. The reality — a global schedule, long travel weeks, distance — was different. More than half of its events were played internationally. The time away added up.

Koepka began reassessing his future. In December, he made his decision, walking away from the final year of a contract reportedly worth $125 million.

Koepka’s call to Tiger Woods started the process

His next call was to Tiger Woods.

“That got the ball rolling,” Koepka said.

Brooks Koepka celebrates on the podium after winning the 2024 LIV Golf Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club. (Photo: Lionel Ng/Getty Images)

Soon after, he returned to the PGA Tour through its one-time Returning Member Program — a move that reshaped not only his career, but golf’s ongoing divide.

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Woods called it “a win for everybody.” For Koepka, it was something simpler, a reset.

The transition hasn’t been easy. His results have been mixed. His status has changed — no access to certain bonus structures, no guaranteed path into signature events. He now must play his way back into the game’s highest-paying tournaments, relying on exemptions and performance.

A different reality for a player who once dictated terms. But that, in its own way, fits.

“I love the grind,” Koepka said. “It’s a fresh start.”

So now, with LIV behind him, Koepka returns to a familiar place carrying an unfamiliar perspective. The accolades are there. The money is there. The legacy, Hall of Fame-bound, is secure, but what comes next is less certain.

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Koepka will look to make it an even half-dozen majors at Shinnecock, a place where he won his second U.S. Open back in 2018. He hopes the heartbreak and controversy of the last year are finally behind him and he can focus on what he does best: Play great golf on the world’s biggest stages. He’s been battling a hand injury, but it appears he will be ready to go on Thursday, according to reporting from our Eamon Lynch.

Either way, he seems settled back into the PGA Tour groove, happier than ever.

“We had a lot of family issues go on last year. It was noted, and that took a toll on me. It definitely took a toll on Jena. That was kind of tough to deal with,” Koepka said during the PGA Championship at Aronimink.

“At home, it’s in a much better place. It’s easier to come out to work when everything at home lines up. Everything’s a lot better. Last year was just difficult personally with what was going on off the golf course, nothing to do on it. It was just off. So yeah, just being in a better place. It’s exciting. It’s a little bit of a fresh start as well. I think that’s a big piece of it. Yeah, when all that kind of lines up, it makes it enjoyable to be out here.”

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And that’s exactly how he’s always seemed to like it.

Tim Schmitt is the managing editor of Golfweek. Reporters Cameron Jourdan and Tom D’Angelo contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Back from LIV Golf, Brooks Koepka looks for a sixth major at Shinnecock

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