PGA Tour Live Blog: Brooks Koepka Returns at 2026 Farmers Insurance Open

Welcome to the first installment of PGA Tour Live Blogs. PGA Tour Live is a tremendous product for golf fans. The telecast tends to function like a highlight reel, showcasing the best (and sometimes worst) shots of the day. PGA Tour Live offers viewers the chance to experience rounds of professional golf the way they’re actually unfolding – the ebbs and flows, the action and the silence, the eventful and the uneventful. The telecast is like logging onto Instagram. PGA Tour Live feels closer to real life. Is that melodramatic? Overly-analytical? Who cares. 

PJ Clark and I both watch a shameful amount of PGA Tour Live, and we figured this week’s Farmers Insurance Open presents an opportune time to try out a live blog. During Thursday rounds, we often text each other amusements and observations from watching hours of coverage. Today, we’re peeling back the curtain and tossing our thoughts right here instead. 

Brooks Koepka – PJ’s favorite golfer for reasons that remain unclear to me –  makes his highly-anticipated return to PGA Tour action via the Returning Member Program since departing LIV Golf. He tees off at 12:32 p.m. ET. We’re glued to our screens, and we hope you’ll join us.

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Blogging with the Boys

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11:45 a.m. ET: PJ, it feels like a significant day on the PGA Tour. Torrey Pines used to sort of mark the unofficial start to the season, a feeling that's disappeared a little bit as fields at Torrey have weakened over the past few years. Brooks' return, in addition to other big names in the field like Xander Schauffele and Ludvig Aberg, is giving today a big feel.

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What are you expecting out of your boy Brooks today? - Joseph LaMagna

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11:55 a.m. ET: I know this has been discussed a bunch this week, but it feels like this is the week for Brian Rolapp's new schedule to start, not the week after the Super Bowl. Give Torrey back its "big fight feel" and let Phoenix exist in its natural spot on Super Bowl week. There's nothing else going on the week before the Super Bowl, and golf should capitalize on the empty football weekend.

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As for Brooks, I think anything under par today would be a win! The goal should reasonably be to make the cut. Do I expect him to compete this week? I don't. I don't feel good about putting that in writing, but here we are. I feel much better about next week or the Cognizant in terms of chances to win. - PJ Clark

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12:15 p.m. ET: ESPN is putting a non-major championship round on the big channel for the first time since 2006. Part of the first group shown in 20 years? TGL superstar Michael Thorbjornsen. That's some good cross promotion! - PJ

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12:37 p.m. ET: Look, Torrey Pines isn't the most architecturally-engaging golf course in the world. I think we're mostly all on the same page there. At this point, it's much more of a tired talking point than an insightful one. But each year when Torrey rolls around, I'm refreshed at the sight of bogeys. A leaderboard that moves in both directions. Good to see some plus signs on the board already! - Joseph

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12:38 p.m. ET: Brooks is off, gets a wonderful bounce into the fairway off the tee, and throws a dart on approach! I'm beginning to feel things again. What size green jacket does he need? - PJ

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12:45 p.m. ET: He missed. My disappointment is immeasurable. - PJ

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12:48 p.m. ET: Aaron Rai just withdrew from the tournament before his tee time. PJ, I have to be honest: watching DFS people tilt about their golfer withdrawing is one of my favorite parts of Golf Twitter. About to log on. - Joseph

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12:49 p.m. ET: For whatever reason, it feels like Torrey has more late WDs than any other tournament. Will Zalatoris did the same thing last year and people LOST it. Let's hope this year's leader doesn't come down with an illness this weekend either. - PJ

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12:56 p.m. ET: PJ, do you think Max Homa was nervous or excited when he found out all of his shots at Torrey Pines(!) would be shown on ESPN today? - Joseph

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12:57 p.m. ET: This is a big spot for Max, no doubt about it. I get lining up a trio of marketable stars in Åberg-Homa-Koepka, but I wouldn't necessarily call any of the three a lock to play well given recent form! I'm far more interested in the English-Spaun-Schauffele trio for competition's sake. - PJ

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1:04 p.m. ET: Any names you're keen to monitor this week? I can't wait to see how Michael Brennan plays. He's struggled a little bit since winning at Black Desert, but he's such a good driver of the golf ball. I'm eager to see how he plays on a course that suits his game much better than somewhere like Waialae. - Joseph

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1:09 p.m. ET: In that same vein of drivers of the golf ball, how could you not be excited about the Marco Penge debut? In theory, he should be a solid fit here and it could be a great start towards bucking the trend of the DPWT Top 10 not playing well on the PGA Tour. Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is set to tee off shortly with Johnny Keefer as well. - PJ

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1:16 p.m. ET: One observation for the people at home who have never been to Torrey Pines: many of the greens slope severely from back to front. It's hard to appreciate that on tv. As you're watching a hole, you can just assume it's sloped that way and you'll rarely be wrong. No. 2 and No. 5 are prime examples. Some greens (like No. 7) are also perched up. Generally, missing long is a huge problem because you're often chipping up - out of thick rough - to an elevated surface that slopes away from you. - Joseph

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1:20 p.m. ET: Do you think Jon Rahm is watching on ESPN right now? I just assume Bryson has more pressing content needs this afternoon. - PJ

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1:25 p.m. ET: I think yes? Probably? But seriously, PJ, imagine not being able to play in this tournament and then not being able to play Scottsdale next week either while you compete in Riyadh. I won't pretend to know what kind of headspace Jon Rahm is in, but there have to be some LIV golfers who are...not loving the current situation. - Joseph

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1:27 p.m. ET: I can't imagine he was upset about missing The American Express given some of his previous comments, but I bet he'd love to play Torrey again in a competitive setting! Someone has to unseat Adrian Meronk as the King of Night Golf, though. - PJ

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1:36 p.m. ET: I'm pretty disappointed by the lack of outrageous small talk on PGA Tour Live today. We usually get a crazy comment or two. That's central to the experience.

I wonder if these guys are exercising a little caution  on the main ESPN feed. Need to let them cook! - Joseph

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1:39 p.m. ET: Xander's hair is out of control. Is this a new look for the entire year? Is he emulating the Man United fan who wouldn't get a haircut until they won five straight games, choosing to let it flow until he wins another major? I wish there was a online community that I could discuss this latest Xander news with. If only! - PJ

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1:53 p.m. ET: I'm not sure how much I want to air this take out publicly but here we go anyway. I'm pretty sick of Tony Finau. I defended him through many of his near-wins. But can we see a sign of life soon, please? The TikToks and Netflix stuff is great, but is he ever going to a relevant golfer again? This week would be a good start, but I don't have much confidence we'll see it. - Joseph

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2:00 p.m. ET: I'm with you on your earlier point - this feels sleepier than a usual PGA Tour Live Thursday. Where's the whimsy? Where are the takes? Is the added commercial load on ESPN robbing us of the much-needed conversations to fill airtime? It's certainly not helping that our featured groups haven't been playing well. Let's get some juice back in this thing! - PJ

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2:14 p.m. ET: Dayman has appeared! Looks like the Rose-Day-Mastuyama group is what we've been waiting on. Pray for those who hate the SGS Soundboard if Jason Day once again finds himself in contention at Torrey this week. - PJ

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2:25 p.m. ET: Checking in on Mr. 1,000... he's -2 through 3! I don't want to jinx anything, but I am pleased with the early returns. - PJ

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2:31 p.m. ET: Jason Day!  Ah, yes, the No.1 ranked player in the PGA Tour's power rankings this week. I'm setting myself up for Old Takes Exposed here, but I think Jason Day was the most overrated name in the field this week, and I'll still say it even though he started -2 thru 3. He's not winning this week. - Joseph

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2:46 p.m. ET: Early check-in on the Aldrich Potgieter PXG experiment. He currently leads the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee! I'm skeptical of PXG, and we aren't even nine holes in, but he's off to a good start. - Joseph

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2:52 p.m. ET: We're just about done with this three-hour coverage window on ESPN. Any last takeaways from you from this being on linear television vs. ESPN+? Can't wait for the #RATINGS tweet. - PJ

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2:57 p.m. ET: My biggest takeaway is probably that today has been a solid litmus test for people to decide if they actually like watching professional golf or not. There have been many recent efforts at turning golf into something bigger than it already is. Today has been a pleasant watch. This is what a Thursday of a non-major championship feels like. If casual fans tuned into golf today because it was on ESPN and decided it isn't engaging enough, then watching a bunch of pro golf likely isn't for them. And that is completely ok. Golf needs to be secure enough in itself to accept that. - Joseph

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3:33 p.m. ET: I said I wouldn't do this, but they need to stop showing drone shots of Torrey. The golf course is so offensive from overhead. I'll never forget laying eyes on No. 13 for the first time. Truly horrific to look at on such a stunning piece of land. Ok, I'm done. - Joseph

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2:39 p.m. ET: Random note, but you'll see a lot of guys take it down the right side on No. 2 off the tee, especially to left-hand pins. Not a bad place to be. - Joseph

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3:59 p.m. ET: I'm not sure if it turned out quite as well as he'd hoped, but that Koepka second shot on No. 13 out of the rough with lumber is a glimpse into the player we're accustomed to watching lift major trophies. Not many guys can muscle that shot out of the rough like that. - Joseph

4:22 p.m. ET: You don't learn too much in one round of golf and should be careful deducing much. However, Ludvig Aberg looks completely out of sorts. Some of these shots are way, way off the mark. I wouldn't expect much from him over the next couple weeks. - Joseph

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5:28 p.m. ET: Ok, 73 for Brooks. Not good, not terrible. Slightly worse than field average. I'll give him a C+. Thought he hit the ball decently well today. That grade may seem a little generous, but expectations for Koepka shouldn't be that high. Fun day, great to have him back on the main stage. That's probably it from us for today. Thank you to those who followed along! - Joseph

Read More

Where He Needs To Be: Brooks Koepka and a peace that can't be calculated

Expectations for Koepka: Analyzing Brooks Koepka's career trajectory

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