SAN DIEGO (AP) — Brooks Koepka was freed from the final year of his contract with Saudi-funded LIV Golf and the first person he called was Tiger Woods. Three weeks later, the PGA Tour created a path back for him that starts at Torrey Pines.

Rory McIlroy says the return of LIV Golf defectors is exposing a clear difference in what elite competition still represents in men’s professional golf. Rory McIlroy has pointed to Brooks Koepka’s decision to leave LIV Golf and rejoin the PGA Tour as evidence that players are starting to recognise the competitive gap between the two circuits.

CBS Sports begins its 69th consecutive year broadcasting the PGA Tour this weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open from Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, the first of 22 events on its schedule that includes the Masters, PGA Championship, six signature events and the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Reacting to the news Tuesday was fellow PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy, who has shared the course with Koepka countless times over the years as one of the sport’s premier competitors.

"It seems like some of those guys are maybe starting to realize they're not getting everything they wanted out of going over there," Rory McIlroy on LIV Golfers

Brooks Koepka said the first call he made after parting ways with LIV Golf was to PGA Tour legend Tiger Woods.

Jan 27 (Reuters) - When Brooks Koepka got his release from LIV Golf late last year, which set in motion his eventual return to the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods was the first person who came to mind for a phone call.

The PGA Show returned to Orlando with 33,000 attendees, 1,100 vendors, and industry leaders shaping golf’s growth into 2026.

The PGA Tour returns this week to the Coachella Valley, where John Schwarb visited recently and found the best possible respite from his Midwest winter.