Editor’s note: This excerpt appears courtesy of On The Green Magazine. For more content like this, visit onthegreenmagazine.com.
Brooks Koepka is accustomed to playing in the biggest golf events in the world.
The five-time major champion has played in 21 consecutive majors since the 2020 British Open was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Yet as the $20 million Truist Championship is being played in Charlotte, N.C., Koepka is in Myrtle Beach playing in the $4 million ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, which tees off Thursday.
It’s a concession the former World No. 1 is willing to make in his attempt to return to the top of a PGA Tour.
Koepka gave up a lot to leave the LIV Golf tour after 3 1/2 years and rejoin the PGA Tour through its new Returning Membership Program.
The sacrifices reportedly included giving up five years of PGA Tour player equity shares, being excluded from the $100 million FedExCup bonus program for the 2026 season, and donating $5 million to charity.
His return under the program also meant starting from the bottom of the tour and having to work his way back up. He is forbidden from accepting sponsor exemptions into the tour’s lucrative $20 million Signature Events, such as the Truist, and he has yet to qualify for one.
“The way I look at it is I’m itching to get in [Signature events], but I’m accepting of where I’m at, and I understand that there’s prices to pay for coming back, and I’m willing to accept those and do whatever I have to do,” Koepka said Wednesday following his pro-am round at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club.
