Brooks Koepka’s $10m PGA haul leaves Tiger Woods trailing and shows LIV rebels clear path to return

Brooks Koepka is making his way back to the massed ranks of the PGA Tour and, at his favorite tournament, he hit another landmark.

A tie for 55th place at the PGA Championship might not be everyone’s idea of success, not least three-time champion Koepka, but it did bring with it $34,186 in prize money.

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It was not quite at the level of Aaron Rai’s $3.69 million history making victory at Aronimink, or hit the highs of Koepka’s own $3.15 million total for winning the event in 2023.

Koepka may trail four-time PGA champion Tiger Woods by one in the overall stakes, but what it does mean is that he passes Woods in terms of career prize money amassed at the major.

Koepka stands clear at the top with more than $9.4 million won at the PGA Championship, some $2 million ahead of Woods.

Koepka has a liking for the big events, with five of his nine PGA Tour wins coming in majors. In fact, more than half of his $45 million in PGA Tour winnings have been amassed in the sport’s showpiece events.

However, it was not all $250,000 watches and calls for stroke violations during the second major of the year for the 36-year-old from Florida.

Koepka arrived in Pennsylvania chasing his sixth career major – a tally that would have taken him level with Rory McIlroy.

An opening round of 69 had him just a couple of shots off the lead, on what would remain a hugely bunched leaderboard all weekend.

He slipped down the field on Friday after a second round 72, but an impressive Saturday 68 brought him within five of the lead heading into championship Sunday.

It wasn’t to be on a rollercoaster final round that featured an eagle and a double bogey alongside five bogies and just a single birdie, and ended with his tie for 55th place.

When did Brooks Koepka return to the PGA Tour?

Along with his prize money, Koepka adds 10,500 FedEx Cup points to his total, enough to put him just inside the top 70 as things stand.

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Getty

It also goes some way to helping his return to the tour, which was confirmed earlier this year.

Having departed for the lucrative millions on offer with the LIV Golf league in 2022, Koepka signed a reported $150 million deal to join the breakaway circuit.

After four years as captain of Smash Golf Club he added $44 million in prize money to go with five individual titles.

Ahead of the 2026 season he was joined by 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed in taking up the offer of a return to the PGA Tour.

Koepka outlined the needs of his family in ending his LIV contract one-year early but his return was not without consequence.

When news of his return was confirmed in January 2026, the World No. 125 had to make a $5 million donation at the tour’s request and forgo his eligibility for PGA Tour bonuses until 2030.

He has now played in 10 events this year, missing the cut on three occasions alongside his sole top 10 finish, which came at the Cognizant Classic in February.

Four top 20 finishes have also been sprinkled along the way, including T13 at the Players and T12 at the Masters.

However, it does mean sitting around sipping coffee awaiting player withdrawals and relying on sponsors exemptions for entry to some events.

But while Bryson DeChambeau is complaining about what he can do for tours, rather than what they can do for his legacy, Koepka is taking his medicine.

Attention will switch to the final two majors of the year, where he will hope to add to his tally of five majors at Oakmont Hills in June with the U.S. Open – a tournament he won back-to back in 2017 and 2018.

Koepka has yet to win a Masters or an Open, but will get a chance at Royal Birkdale in July when the Open completes the majors circuit for 2026.

After that attention will switch to the FedEx Playoffs on the PGA Tour.

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