Cheers For A Brilliant Recovery Shot By PGAT Commissioner Rolapp

I do not often opine about the PGA TOUR. There are plenty of scriveners out there covering the TOUR in more detail than I can possibly match.

In this case, however, I think the PGA TOUR’s new commissioner, Brian Rolapp, deserves notice from all quarters for his brilliant recovery shot from the PGAT-LIV sand trap.

It just might be the shot that wins the match.

As golf fans undoubtedly know by now, Brooks Koepka has left LIV and will return to the PGA TOUR in 2026. That seemed unlikely — at best — a couple of months ago. PGAT officials had said there was no path back for players who had jumped to the upstart league in violation of the agreements they made when they accepted a PGAT card.

For what it’s worth, I agreed with the PGAT position. It is fine for people to switch to a new place of employment; it also is fine for the old employer to not take you back whenever you feel like working there again.

And yet, Brooks is back.

What Rolapp did was take a full swing at a fried egg lie, clear the edge of the pot bunker and roll it in the hole.

I understand that some PGAT members and more than few fans may be angry that Koepka is allowed to return, but I think in the long run this will be seen as the best way forward.

Under the Returning Members Program, players who have won a Major or Players since 2022 can apply for reinstatement.

That’s the first brilliant part of Rolapp’s play. There are only four players who qualify: Koepka, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Smith.

If the cutoff was 2021, Phil Mickelson would be eligible. I think 2022 was chosen specifically to leave him out. It also cuts out Dustin Johnson, but I think he could be considered acceptable collateral damage.

Getting those four to return would cut the legs out from under LIV. At that point, any world ranking points LIV could get would be significantly diminished, as it is partially based on strength of field. Losing Koepka will be bad enough.

After those four, I can’t think of another player on LIV who would move the needle for the PGA TOUR. I’m not actually sure that anyone would care about Cam Smith other than Australians and a few other loyalists (he finished 18th on LIV last year — not exactly setting the world on fire).

Two: upon his return, Koepka (and any other prodigal son) is required to play in fifteen tournaments, but is not immediately eligible for the $20 million signature events. To get into those, Koepka would need to win a regular tour event or through other eligibility, such as top ten in FedEx Cup not already eligible. He also cannot get a sponsor’s exemption.

The genius of this is that it practically forces this potential headliner to play in second tier events. Those smaller events may otherwise be starved for big name talent to promote.

Three: Even as he is helping out the Tour, Koepka finds himself ineligible for the Player Equity Program for five years.

The PGAT says this could cost him $50 – $80 million dollars.

Koepka reportedly had a $100 million dollar contract with LIV and earned $46 million in prize money and bonuses.

There is a distinct possibility that Koepka just breaks even on his LIV experiment. The equation would start with earning $146 million, minus the $80 million in lost PGAT equity, factoring in lost sponsorship income and potential PGAT tournament earnings. Did playing on LIV cost him his edge and a Major or two? That also has to be factored in. So too do does the potential lost income from this year’s highest paying tournaments.

The loss of equity is a double whammy. Even has he is (at least theoretically) adding to the value of the PGAT, Koepka will not benefit from that value.

Koepka also has to pay a $5 million fine (given to charity). That doesn’t sound like much, but I don’t recall ever hearing of a professional sports fine that large.

A final point on this: Koepka is 35. By the time he is eligible for the equity program, he will be forty — toward the end of most players’ careers.

Four: Koepka’s return does not take away any playing opportunities from current players. When playing in a tournament, Koepka will be a plus-one. If the tournament is 120, he will be 121. It is possible that if Koepka is added, another player or two will also need to be added to create an additional group.

This addresses my biggest original concern about the possible return of LIV players. I did not think it would be fair for a player who had skipped out for a windfall to bump another who had remained with the TOUR. I would hate to be the low guy on the seniority list at my school bumped out when another teacher decided to return after leaving for a couple of years to work in another district (indeed, seniority rules would not have allowed it).

If Koepka is still the Brooks of old, he should have no problem earning enough to keep his card.

Five: The other four players have until February 2 to take the TOUR up on its offer. Beyond that, Rolapp says there is no guarantee of a similar offer. I think there would be for DeChambeau and Rahm, but it might have even more caveats built in.

The sixth and final turn of this brilliant shot is that it forces LIV to make a long putt just to keep the match going for another hole.

LIV’s main claim to legitimacy is that it has (had) rented a collection of former major championship winners. Koepka is one of just two who have won a Major while a member of LIV. Others have majors (notably Mickelson), but giving LIV credit for those is like a guy buying a patent and then claiming that he is the inventor.

With Koepka gone, will the Saudis fork out another couple of hundred million to rent another Major winner? The Saudis do indeed pump money out of the ground, but the whole point of their PIF is to make money as a hedge against a post-oil world. Reports suggest that PIF has lost as much as $1.1 BILLION on LIV.

If LIV doesn’t fork out the big bucks, what is the alternative? My advice would be to go where the PGA TOUR (and European Tour) isn’t, in terms of geography, calendar and focus.

By all accounts, LIV is loved in Australia. I’ll bet they also would do well in Asia, particularly Korea, and China, where the US and European based tours may face political winds. South America? Canada? In terms of calendar, LIV could play in the effective PGAT offseason (the fall and first half of winter), making themselves the golf world’s focus for those months.

As far as focus, I have long thought that LIV should be the Mid-Pro league: guys who have made a name for themselves, are no longer regularly competitive on the PGA TOUR in the face of the young guns, but who are too young for the senior tour. They could combine that with being a feeder tour, ushering in young talent. No shame in that. Every Major League Team has a AAA affiliate that (presumably) makes money.

Or they could just fold. The Saudis have a history of pulling the plug on ambitious projects.

I am ambivalent about whether LIV continues or not. I had fun attending their Michigan tournament and thought it offered lessons for the PGA TOUR on how to run an event. I do not follow it otherwise.

I do think, however, that thanks to Rolapp’s play, LIV is going to have to make a move of its own.

We will need to wait to see that move is. I am certain that rebranding the Ironheads as the Korean Golf Club is not it. (But it may point to a way forward).

In the meantime, a nice golf clap for Rolapp’s shot well played.

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