Wyndham Clark admitted to being “torn” about the return of fellow U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka to the PGA Tour.
Koepka announced last month he would part ways with LIV Golf despite a year remaining on his contract with the Saudi-backed league. The PGA Tour allowed the five-time major champion to return via the Returning Member Program that was announced Monday.
According to the PGA Tour, Koepka agreed to a five-year forfeiture of participation in the player equity program that PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said could amount to a $50-85 million penalty. Koepka also has agreed to make a $5 million charity donation.
“Gosh, I’m so torn,” Clark told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on Wednesday. “I mean, I personally really like Brooks, and I think it’s ultimately really good for the PGA Tour, but also, you know, a guy that had an opportunity to go to LIV, it’s kind of frustrating that he’s able to get the cake and also eat it.”
Clark apparently had a chance at that “cake” as well. He said that he received an offer from the upstart circuit in 2024, a year after he won the U.S. Open.
“I had the offer. It was just over a year and a half ago,” Clark said. “And if you would have told me that I could have gone for a year and a half, make a boatload of money and then be able to come back and play on the Tour, I think almost everyone would have done that.
“So it’s a little frustrating that happened. Are people going to now see what the tour has done and then go do that anyways? You know, they reach out to LIV and say, ‘Hey, I want to come play LIV,’ knowing that hey, you go take a bag for a year or two and you’re able to come back. Yeah, it’s an interesting decision because I think there could be guys that have that mindset and kind of challenge the system and then come back say, ‘Well, you let Brooks do this, why can’t I do it?'”
–Field Level Media
