“You’ve got to pay the troll toll to get in.” The Shotgun Start podcast invoked the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia metaphor for a reason. For Brooks Koepka, the toll isn’t money. It’s time.

The Shotgun Start hosts dismantled the fantasy of the PGA Tour on their January 5 episode. “He can’t just be showing up at Palm Springs AMX in like five weeks. It just can’t,” they noted. “Brooks Koepka is a golfer. This isn’t like Taiwan, where the State Department needs to meet over every word. Jay Monahan can pick up the phone and say, We’d love to have you. We don’t need to pore over every word in one of the global home meeting rooms to just release this milk toast garbage.”

The five-time major champion walked away from LIV Golf on December 23, 2025, as he needs to prioritize family now. Fans immediately penciled him into the American Express field. But major exemptions get you into Augusta. They don’t get you into Palm Springs. Koepka’s three PGA Championship wins and two U.S. Open titles secure his spot at the Masters, Oakmont, and Quail Hollow through 2028. Those credentials mean nothing when it comes to the American Express, Bay Hill, or any signature event. Then came the legal reality.

“Rory alluded to this, too,” the hosts observed. “You can’t treat one person differently from how he treats others. As much as the tour would like to treat Brooks differently, it sets a legal precedent because of the lawsuits that have been going on and everything else behind the scenes.”

McIlroy’s stance has been consistent. The Northern Irishman argued that LIV defectors have already paid their consequence through time away from legacy events, lost world ranking points, and exclusion from Ryder Cup conversations. But even he acknowledged the Tour’s hands are tied by how it has treated others seeking re-entry.

Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee pushed back harder. He warned that allowing Koepka a frictionless return would undermine the Tour’s meritocratic foundations and send a corrosive message: rules apply only to the expendable, not the exceptional. Chamblee called Koepka a “marquee legitimizer” whose stature normalized defection and made LIV viable.

230930 Brooks Koepka of Team USA looks dejected in a foursome match during day 2 of the Ryder Cup on September 30, 2023 in Rome. Photo: Mathias Bergeld / BILDBYRAN / kod MB / MB0737 golf ryder cup day 2 bbeng foursome depp *** 230930 Brooks Koepka of Team USA looks dejected in a foursome match during day 2 of the Ryder Cup on September 30, 2023 in Rome Photo Mathias Bergeld BILDBYRAN kod MB MB0737 golf ryder cup day 2 bbeng foursome depp PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxSWExNORxAUT Copyright: MATHIASxBERGELD BB230930MB033

“The hurdle is how they have treated others who have tried to come back, serve suspensions, or whatever it is,” the hosts continued. “There seems to be some insight there that he probably has from HQ if you’re reading between the lines.”

The Tour’s enforcement has been unsparing. Wesley Bryan — a content creator and 2017 RBC Heritage champion — received an indefinite suspension in April 2025 simply for participating in a LIV-backed YouTube influencer event. He didn’t even join LIV as a player. The message was clear: proximity to the Saudi-backed league carries consequences.

The regulation confirms the pattern: “Any player who has participated in an unauthorized tournament is ineligible to compete in any event sanctioned by the PGA Tour for a period of one year.” Koepka’s last LIV appearance came at LIV Golf Michigan on August 24, 2025. The clock started that day. August 2026 marks the earliest he can re-enter PGA Tour fields.

The hosts weren’t being cynical. They were channeling the same legal logic that binds the institution.

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Brooks Koepka faces the precedent problem with no room for exceptions

Laurie Canter proved the rule’s impartiality. After his final LIV event in February 2024, the Englishman served the full one-year suspension before becoming the first ex-LIV golfer to compete in a PGA Tour event at The Players Championship in March 2025. He earned a 2026 PGA Tour card by finishing seventh in the Race to Dubai — then declined it to rejoin LIV Golf.

The pathway existed. Canter followed it. No shortcuts materialized.

Hudson Swafford faces harsher math: a five-year ban stretching until 2027, calculated as one year for each non-sanctioned event he played in 2022 before resigning. James Piot served his full suspension. Henrik Stenson paid over $1 million in fines to the DP World Tour just to regain eligibility there.

If the PGA Tour carves out an exception for Koepka, every suspended player gains grounds for litigation. The Tour’s response hinted at awareness without action. They released their statement just 23 minutes after LIV Golf’s announcement, suggesting the institution knew it was coming. Yet the words offered no fast-track, no red carpet.

The Shotgun Start hosts offered their prediction: “He’s going to go play the DP World Tour, and he’ll play over there for a while, and then he’ll come back. Maybe it’s next year.”

Koepka’s 2026 card for the DPWT stays secure, and the chances are highly likely, the fandom will see him tee off a lot more there! Star power doesn’t rewrite the rulebook. Even five-time major champions must wait in line.