Brooks Koepka takes veiled shot at LIV Golf while revealing big ‘advantage’ of PGA Tour

Brooks Koepka has fallen back in love with the ‘grind’ of golf, and credits the PGA Tour for his newfound excitement.

The five-time major champion is teeing it up at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson this week, off the back of the PGA Championship, where he finished T55.

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While we didn’t see vintage Koepka at Aronimink last weekend, he played his best round of 2026 so far at TPC Craig Ranch on Thursday.

The American, with his new putter — a Scotty Cameron Fastback 1.5 — impressed en route to an 8-under 63 that had him leading the event after the early wave finished on Day 1.

Koepka has struggled on the green this year, and headed into the CJ Cup ranked 141st in putting.

The Fastback 1.5 is the fourth putter he’s used in recent months — and looks to be the one he’ll use moving forward.

“Finally, I felt good with the putter,” Koepka said after his opening round on Thursday.

Returning to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf, which is said to be on the verge of collapse, comes with benefits beyond fixing his putting game.

Koepka, who has bagged an impressive amount of PGA Championship prize money across his career to date, believes the North American circuit boasts better access to equipment trucks at events, and has been left ‘overwhelmed’ since making his comeback.

He’s even claimed it’s ‘great’ that his former LIV competitors haven’t been in contact since he departed in January.

Brooks Koepka takes veiled shot at LIV Golf

“Every week is a new fresh start for me, and obviously with my penalty I’m not allowed to play every event, and if I get the chance to tee up, I want to play,” he told reporters Wednesday.

“I’ve mentioned it a couple times, I’ve kind of fallen back in love with this. I’m enjoying the grind. I’m enjoying battling it out here.”

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Koepka was then asked if any golfers from the breakaway have reached out about his ‘reintegration’ to the PGA Tour.

“I changed my number a while ago, so I don’t think many guys have my number, which is great,” he said.

“So I haven’t had to worry about too much of that.”

Koepka went on to discuss how his ‘day-to-day’ has changed now he’s back to a more intense grind, which he hopes will soon lead to qualification for the PGA Tour’s Signature Events — and couldn’t resist a quick dig over the LIV setup.

“It’s totally different… just to have so many options, it’s maybe a little bit overwhelming at the same time,” he explained.

“Because access to equipment trucks, grip changes, things like that — sometimes I wasn’t privy to over the last four, five years.

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“So to be back out here and have the opportunity to, if you need to make a slight change in something, it’s a whole lot easier.

“Just more access to everything, I think, has been a huge advantage.”

Koepka, it seems, is relishing his PGA Tour return, and the equipment ‘advantage’ that comes with it.

He will hope to stay in contention at the CJ Cup as the weekend rolls on, and land his first win back on the circuit after three years away.

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