Sports
Koepka: ‘Nervous’ about return, must rebuild ties
HONOLULU — Brooks Koepka is expecting a nervous energy when he returns to a regular PGA Tour event for the first time in four years at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Only some of that pertains to his golf.
How he is received — inside and outside the ropes — remains to be seen as the first player to be invited back to the PGA Tour after taking Saudi riches to defect to the LIV Golf League in 2022.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do with some of the players,” Koepka said in a telephone interview Monday. “There’s definitely guys who are happy, and definitely guys who will be angry. It’s a harsh punishment financially. I understand exactly why the tour did that — it’s meant to hurt. But it [his departure] hurt a lot of people.
“If anyone is upset, I need to rebuild those relationships.”
Koepka was allowed back under a one-time Returning Member Program that the PGA Tour board developed and approved last week. It applies only to players who have won a major or the Players Championship since 2022.
The penalty is a $5 million contribution to a charity the tour will help decide, no access to FedEx Cup bonus money in 2026, no sponsor exemptions to the $20 million signature events and, most importantly, no equity grants in the PGA Tour for the next five years.
The PGA Tour estimates, based on Koepka performing at the level allowed to win five majors, that the financial repercussions could be worth anywhere from $50 million to $85 million.
“There was no negotiating,” Koepka said about his conversation last week with Brian Rolapp, the CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises. “It’s meant to hurt — it does hurt — but I understand. It’s not supposed to be an easy path. There’s a lot of people that were hurt by it when I left, and I understand that’s part of coming back.”
For those not happy to see him return, Koepka said he looks forward to having private conversations outside the media.
“The first week I’ll be a little bit nervous,” Koepka said. “There’s a lot going on than just golf. I’ll be glad to put the first week behind me — dealing with the media, dealing with the players, and then getting some of those tougher conversations. But I’m looking forward to it.
“Am I nervous? Yes. Am I excited? Yes. In a weird way, I want to have those conversations.”
Jordan Spieth said Koepka just needed to be the same person who left.
“You’re not going to ask somebody to change to please other people,” Spieth said. “I don’t think he needs to play Monday pro-ams or walk along the range and shake everyone’s and say, ‘I’m sorry.’ He just comes back and plays really good golf. That’s good for everybody.”
The board, led by a majority of players, signed off on the plan. Koepka talked with Rolapp by phone Thursday evening, and he was at PGA Tour headquarters the next morning unaccompanied. He came in through a side entrance.
The 35-year-old Koepka, who is exempt the next three years from his 2023 victory in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, will return at Torrey Pines on Jan. 29. He also said he would play the WM Phoenix Open, where he won his first PGA Tour title in 2015 and won again in 2021.
That might provide the first real test of how the public feels — a Saturday afternoon on the 16th hole of the TPC Scottsdale, the rowdiest in golf even for players the fans don’t really know.
“I can handle it,” Koepka said. “I enjoy the crowd, and hopefully everybody is happy to see me. They can’t be mad at me forever.”
So why the change?
Word first began to circulate in November that negotiations between Koepka and LIV Golf — he had one year left on his contract — were not going well. He had publicly complained last summer that LIV was not as far along as he would have liked.
And then Dec. 23 came the announcement from LIV of an “amicable” split, and Koepka reapplied for PGA Tour membership.
Koepka cited a knee injury that has taken a toll on his body and the desire to spend more time with his family as the reasons to join LIV. He cited the need to spend more time at home when he left LIV, particularly after his wife had a miscarriage last fall.
“I needed to be there with my family over the last few months. I needed to be closer to home,” Koepka said. “I was able to get out of the LIV contract, everything lined up perfectly and I was able to get back on tour.
“I’m happy and grateful it was able to come to this.”
Koepka has not spoken publicly about how much he was offered to play for LIV, except for saying it was nine figures on a 2023 podcast with boxer Jake Paul. Also unclear was how much he had to pay back by leaving one year early.
Now it’s about playing again on familiar turf with players he saw only four times a year at the majors. He is close with several players who live in South Florida. Others he will see for the first time in the locker room, on the range, on the first tee.
“There’s probably a mixed bag of ‘We’re happy you’re back, welcome home’ to ‘You shouldn’t be here.’ I understand everybody’s point of view,” Koepka said. “I was going to be sitting out possibly a year, and I’m extremely thankful the tour gave me this opportunity.”
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Morez Johnson Jr. had 19 points and 11 rebounds against his former team as No. 3 Michigan defeated No. 10 Illinois 84-70 on Friday night and clinched the Big Ten regular-season title.
Johnson, who played for the Illini last season after verbally committing three years earlier, was booed throughout the game by Illinois fans.
Aday Mara had 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting, and Yaxel Lendeborg finished with 16 points and seven rebounds for the Wolverines (27-2, 17-1), who are 10-0 on the road and have won 23 games by 10 or more points.
The Wolverines won their first outright conference regular-season title since 2014, when they also clinched with a win at Illinois.
Michigan’s 17 conference victories are the most in school history.
Keaton Wagler scored 23 points for the Fighting Illini (22-7, 13-5), who have lost four of six, including three in overtime. Wagler scored in double figures for the 21st straight game.
Kylan Boswell scored 15 points, and David Mirkovic had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Illini, who entered the game as the Big Ten’s top 3-point shooting team. Illinois was just 9-of-29 from distance against Michigan.
Michigan led 38-31 at halftime behind Johnson’s 13 points.
Down 16-11 after a four-point play by Wagler, the Wolverines responded with an 11-point run capped by a 3 by Johnson and never trailed again. They led by as many as 21 points in the second half.
Michigan’s win snapped a nine-game losing streak against Illinois that began in 2019. The Wolverines had dropped four in a row to the Illini at the State Farm Center.
The Power 4 conference commissioners are expected to join dozens of sports celebrities and dignitaries on March 6 at the White House in a roundtable discussion with President Donald Trump about the future of college athletics, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.
President Trump will chair the group, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and New York Yankees president Randy Levine are listed as vice chairs, according to a source who provided a list of 35 people who received invitations. The list also includes:
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Golfer Tiger Woods
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Former college football coaches Nick Saban, Mack Brown and Urban Meyer
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Former secretary of state and College Football Playoff selection committee member Condoleezza Rice
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New England Patriots president Jonathan Kraft
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NBA commissioner Adam Silver
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Fox Sports president Eric Shanks
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ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro
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Several athletic directors, including Notre Dame’s Pete Bevacqua
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Former college athletes, including Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Florida State basketball and football player Charlie Ward
The list also includes current university presidents and chancellors.
It’s unknown whether everyone invited will attend the event, which is called the “College Sports Roundtable.” Multiple sources planning to attend expressed skepticism about how much could be done on a Friday afternoon with so many people from different backgrounds involved.
“It’s people who could be involved in helping shape the future of college athletics and some of the solutions and strategies to structuring the athletic world going forward,” said one source who plans to attend. “It’s so preliminary, it’s hard to say anything with any sort of specificity because there hasn’t been anything provided to us in writing of that sort yet.”
Also expected to attend is billionaire businessman Cody Campbell, chairman of Texas Tech’s board of regents and a former college football player, who has been working on a “Saving College Sports” campaign and involved in discussions about a possible roundtable for more than a year.
Leaders throughout college athletics have also been meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill for years to rally support for legislation to help regulate NIL. Despite Trump’s outspoken support and multiple politicians taking stances on issues such as athlete employment, the NCAA has been unable to get a bill to the floor for a vote.
Yahoo Sports was first to report the meeting.
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The projected top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, said a team executive suggested he get arrested so that he would slide down to that team’s pick in the upcoming draft.
Mendoza is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders, but he is still interviewing with other teams at the NFL combine.
Mendoza revealed the suggestion a team made to him about getting arrested during an interview with CBS Sports on Friday, when he was asked about the most bizarre question he got from teams at the NFL combine.
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Indiana Hoosiers quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza (15) and Alberto Mendoza (16) warm up prior to the game against the UCLA Bruins at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 25, 2025, in Bloomington, Indiana. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
“It was, ‘hey, maybe you should get arrested,’ and I was a little confused, but then I was like, the slide … so you could slide in the draft,” he said.
Mendoza declined to reveal which team made the suggestion.
Indiana Hoosiers quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza (15) and Alberto Mendoza (16) walk on the field for warmups before the 2025 Big Ten Conference Championship game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium on Dec. 6, 2025, in Indianapolis. (Aaron Doster-Imagn Images)
“So, hopefully I don’t get arrested,” he added.
Mendoza is the hottest quarterback prospect this year after leading Indiana to the first 16-0 season in modern college football history, winning the national championship and the Heisman Trophy.
He finished the 2025 season with 3,535 passing yards, 41 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
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Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza passes against Miami during the first half of the College Football Playoff national championship game, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Other teams in need of a quarterback besides the Raiders may not find many answers in this draft, after Oregon quarterback Dante Moore returned to college for another year.
Other prospects, including Ty Simpson, Drew Allar and Garrett Nussmeier, are projected to be lower-tier prospects when compared to Mendoza.
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