Koepka’s return among storylines to watch in 2026 PGA Tour season

Before a single golf ball had even been struck, the 2026 PGA Tour season began with a shot across the bow.

In a deal that reportedly came together within a couple weeks around Christmas, Brooks Koepka will leave LIV and return to the PGA Tour beginning Jan. 29 at Torrey Pines, becoming the biggest star to come back after defecting.

But that’s not all. No, new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp had more — a one-time offer to Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith to come back under the same deal that Koepka landed, complete with a severe financial penalty but a clear path back to competition.

Each of that trio has until Feb. 2 to accept. Take it or leave it.

Until then, their decisions will dominate the golf world. (All three said Tuesday they will stay on LIV. But given each of their original defections from the PGA Tour, we’ll believe that if and when the deadline passes without a deal.)

Rahm has not-so-subtly been frustrated with the competition on LIV, but his contract — struck one year after Koepka and DeChambeau — is said to be longer and tougher to break. Even if Rahm’s ego and wallet could withstand the hit of admitting defeat and crawling back to the Tour, he may not be allowed to do so legally.

DeChambeau likely has the most leverage in all of this. Potentially the most well-known golfer in the world thanks to his YouTube presence, the two-time U.S. Open champion has already been open about his stilted contract negotiations with LIV. On Tuesday, he opened the door to the PGA Tour with a simple Instagram story.

Given his popularity, it might not be hyperbole to say the future of LIV depends on DeChambeau.

As things stand now, though, PGA Tour fans won’t see Rahm, DeChambeau or Smith until The Masters in April.

And on Thursday, the regular season begins with Canadian Nick Taylor’s title defence at the Sony Open in Oahu, Hawaii.

Here are five other storylines to watch:

How will Koepka fare back on Tour?

As groundbreaking a move as it was for Koepka to come back, the impact was more due to his status as a five-time major champion than anything he’s done lately.

Since winning the 2023 PGA Championship, the 35-year-old Koepka has just two top-20 results in 10 majors, and he missed the cut at three of four last year. The results at LIV, where he hadn’t won since August 2024, haven’t been much better.

Koepka must play at least 15 events this year, including majors. He’ll have to earn his way into signature events, which consist of smaller fields made up only of the top players on Tour.

Those guidelines mean Koepka may have a decent shot of picking off a lower-level event against weaker competition. His M.O. throughout his career has been that he only shows up when the stakes are highest — remember, this is a player who has more majors (five) than PGA Tour wins (four). Now, his results in weekly action will matter more than ever.

Whether Koepka appears rejuvenated or if he looks more like the aging star who’s struggled in majors is the No. 1 on-course story of the early season.

Rory McIlroy finally got his green jacket. Is another major in store?

We won’t soon forget the 2025 Masters, which produced one of the greatest Sundays in the history of major championships and ended with McIlroy collapsing on the 18th green after 19 exhausting holes of roller-coaster golf.

In the aftermath of McIlroy’s maiden Masters and drought-breaking win, some predicted the Northern Irishman would be freed up at majors and pick off at least one other. Instead, McIlroy never truly contended at the other three, though he did win his home Irish Open and lead Europe to an away Ryder Cup victory.

So what’s in store for 2026? We may find out quickly — McIlroy won twice (Pebble Beach and The Players) ahead of the Masters last year, showing his form early. For the year, he finished third in total strokes gained and, despite his age, kept up with the best drivers on the planet by finishing fourth off the tee. Off the course, McIlroy — who has excused himself from top-level Tour discussions — feels lighter and more focused on golf.

McIlroy is also on record that, at this point in his career, he’s focused on legacy above all else. He’s currently tied with seven others (including Koepka, interestingly) with five career majors, but one more would vault him into an elite group with six, including Phil Mickelson, Nick Faldo and Lee Trevino.

Can Scottie Scheffler complete the career Grand Slam?

The other thing about McIlroy’s Masters win is that it made him one of just six men to ever complete the career Grand Slam. Then, the best player on the planet won both the PGA Championship and Open Championship, and suddenly, Scheffler is one victory away from making it seven.

Scheffler won six tournaments last year, further establishing him as No. 1. He led the Tour in strokes gained total, approach and tee to green, placed second off the tee and finished top-25 around the green and putting.

An all-around force who’s rightfully collecting more and more Tiger Woods comparisons with each win, the only criticism you could levy at Scheffler is that he hasn’t won the type of mentally taxing U.S. Open where par is a good score.

Good news: June’s U.S. Open is headed to New York’s Shinnecock Hills, a legendarily tough test of golf.

How many Canadians will find their way onto the Presidents Cup team?

Making this team will be an underlying theme for Americans and non-Europeans throughout the season.

At Royal Montreal in 2024, Canada’s contingent included Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Mackenzie Hughes and captain Mike Weir. It did not go well: they combined for a respectable five points, but the Internationals were out of it by Sunday en route to an 18.5-11.5 loss.

Now, there’s no home crowd to fall back on as the tournament moves to Medinah Country Club in Chicago in September. By world ranking, the top 12 internationals currently include three Canadians in Conners (No. 30), Pendrith (No. 51) and Nick Taylor (No. 54).

That trio is firmly in the inner circle of contenders as the Internationals continue eyeing their first victory since 1998. But form — as Taylor learned two years ago, when he won early in the season but scuffled late to miss the team — is critical.

Meanwhile, there are more Canadians on Tour than there have been in years, with those three joined by Hughes, Adam Svensson, and rookies A.J. Ewart and Sudarshan Yellamaraju.

What does the Tour’s future look like?

With Rolapp now in charge, mass change from schedule to playoff format and everything in between is expected for the PGA Tour come 2027.

In the fall, veteran Harris English revealed that a revamped golf season could begin after the Super Bowl, do away with signature events and potentially cut longtime stops like Hawaii.

How these changes unfold, as Taylor told Sportsnet’s Adam Stanley earlier this week, will be on the back of players’ minds throughout the year.

Meanwhile, the golf world as a whole continues to rapidly evolve between LIV and the rise of YouTube, which the Tour has embraced with the Creator Classic.

Given the latest LIV battle, the dominoes feel closer to falling than ever. Whichever lane the PGA Tour — currently atop that hierarchy — chooses to affirm itself as No. 1 will be fascinating.

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