Jena Sims is peeling back the curtain on husband Brooks Koepka’s stunning PGA Tour return.
Hours after the five-time major champion confirmed Monday he was rejoining the PGA Tour following four years on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit alum, 37, took to Instagram Tuesday to share a video of Koepka, 35, back at the tour’s headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
“They don’t know it yet, but we are about to find out his first start back on the PGA Tour,” Sims wrote on top of a clip that featured Koepka riding on a golf cart as she filmed from afar.
The PGA Tour revealed Monday that it is welcoming Koepka back via its Returning Member Program, which allows players “who have achieved elite levels of performance an alternative path back to the highest tier of men’s professional golf.”
Koepka, who parted ways with LIV Golf in December, falls into the PGA Tour’s window of eligibility that includes winning a major or the Players Championship between 2022 and 2025. He won the PGA Championship in 2023.
Koepka will now make his first PGA Tour start since 2022 at the Farmers Insurance Open later this month after agreeing to the terms of the Returning Member Program. He is unable to earn equity from the Player Equity Program across five years — a potential $50 million to $85 million hit — and he cannot obtain payment this season from the FedExCup Bonus Program.
Koepka is also required to make a $5 million charitable donation, with the recipient to be determined.
“There was no negotiating,” Koepka recalled of his discussion with new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp last week, according to the Associated Press. “It’s meant to hurt, it does hurt, but I understand. It’s not supposed to be an easy path. There’s a lot of people that were hurt by it when I left, and I understand that’s part of coming back.”
Looking ahead to his first PGA Tour event post-LIV, Koepka believes he’ll “be a little bit nervous” amid the fallout of his decisions.
“There’s a lot going on than just golf. I’ll be glad to put the first week behind me — dealing with the media, dealing with the players, and then getting some of those tougher conversations. But I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “Am I nervous? Yes. Am I excited? Yes. In a weird way, I want to have those conversations.”
Koepka will have the support of his family entering play at Torrey Pines.
Sims has cheered for Koepka at various events over the years, including the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland last October, with the couple’s 2-year-old son Crew also in attendance.
Koepak and Sims will celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary in June.
