All eyes will be on Brooks Koepka when he makes his first start in a non-major PGA Tour event in nearly four years Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open at La Jolla, Calif., outside San Diego.
The five-time major champion parted ways with LIV Golf and was the first high-profile name to be accepted back on the PGA Tour. News emerged Wednesday that Patrick Reed will follow Koepka back to the tour later this year.
Koepka will play his first two rounds at Torrey Pines with Max Homa and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, Thursday on the South Course and Friday on the North Course. After the 36-hole cut, the final two rounds are contested on the famed South Course, site of the 2008 and 2021 U.S. Opens.
Koepka’s return is such an event for the sport that ESPN agreed to elevate its usual streaming-only “PGA Tour Live” coverage to linear television on Thursday and Friday afternoon. It’s ESPN’s first broadcast of a non-major in nearly 20 years.
As for Koepka, 35, it will be his first start at a standard event since the WGC-Dell Match Play in March 2022. He won five times on LIV, but that doesn’t make him impervious to nerves.
“Maybe I’m a little nervous about that as well just to see how, I guess, how the fans respond to it,” Koepka said. “I hope that they’re excited. I hope that they’re happy that I’m out here.”
He also has admitted to some anxiety about having conversations with his PGA Tour peers, given the acrimonious LIV-PGA split in 2022. Count San Diego native Xander Schauffele among those who’d rather focus on the future.
“I think it helps our tour,” Schauffele said. “… It’s not going to make the tour weaker having a five-time major just want to come back and play.”
At No. 6, Schauffele is the highest-ranked player in the world on the property as he makes his season debut. No. 7 J.J. Spaun, defending champion Harris English, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and Sony Open in Hawaii champ Chris Gotterup are among other big names in the field.
Spaun, another native of Southern California and a San Diego State alumnus like Schauffele, will try to build on his breakout 2025 season that saw him win the U.S. Open and compete at the Ryder Cup.
“I won a major and I feel like if I keep doing the right things and doing the things that I did last year to set myself up for that, like if I’m in contention, I truly believe that I can win another one,” Spaun said.
“So I think that’s the biggest goal that I’ve had since then was just the fact that I did win a major. I believe that I can win one. I feel like you bust one door down, you can have the proof to keep going.”
After this week, Koepka plans to play the WM Phoenix Open and the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches as he gets his bearings on tour again. A strong performance this week could help him qualify via the “Aon Swing 5” for upcoming signature events, like the Genesis Invitational and Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“That’s the fun part, I love the grind, I’ve always enjoyed it,” Koepka said. “I guess it’s a fresh start for me, which is cool. It’s just another chapter I guess in my book. I’m excited for that. I feel like my game’s in pretty good shape and I want to see where it’s at.”
–Field Level Media
