Impacts of Brooks Koepka’s PGA Tour return, Brian Rolapp era & Tiger’s Bday fest | The Shotgun Start

To paraphrase Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour's Opening Drive is *finally* just about underway! Andy and Brendan are beyond happy to have actual golf back on the Schedule for the Week, even if this is still a Victory Wednesday episode for the Bears. It could also be a Victory Wednesday episode for the PGA Tour, as Brian Rolapp's new Returning Member Program has enabled Brooks Koepka's return at the Farmers Open in just two weeks. Andy and Brendan discuss all the details of the new pathway, open to just four LIV golfers for the next three weeks before LIV's season begins in Riyadh. The two wonder if the financial penalty of "equity coupons" and a donation to charity was enough of a punishment for Brooks, but see this move as an overwhelmingly positive for the Tour and Brian Rolapp's tenure. Things seemingly moved quickly over the weekend and Rolapp gets props from Andy and Brendan for decisively striking while the iron is hot. PJ makes a change to his major picks, awarding Brooks with a fourth PGA Championship, but Brendan is skeptical that Koepka will find himself in major shape in 2026. Brooks will not be at the Sony Open this week, but many PGA Tour stars will be to start the season. This gambling pod makes some picks for the first event of the year, riding with two big names and a podcast favorite. Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy and other European Ryder Cup heroes are in Dubai this week for a DP World Tour event as a tune-up before coming back to the states. Brendan comes in with a real winner for the Event of the Week, Tiger's 50th birthday at the Breakers in Palm Beach. Andy and Brendan toss out some musical acts that would fit the vibe before realizing that Jon Bon Jovi is already enlisted to perform. Lastly, some major LIV news came across the desk on Tuesday morning as the Ironheads and Stingers GC have re-branded! This podcast will continue using the Stingers name, but some potentially-AI press releases reveal the new country-based names of these teams. There's also some LIV hot stove news with a former U.S. Amateur winner seemingly making the jump from the PGA Tour. Check out our new No Interest in Fighting merch here: https://proshop.thefriedegg.com/collections/new-arrivals Listen on Spotify and Apple here: - Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-shotgun-start/id1435273901 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0jMFGCaFpcG0eKyOCNbb0T?si=174134a0c7b446d8 Sign up for our Fried Egg Golf Newsletter, delivered every Monday, Wednesday, Friday https://thefriedegg.com/subscribe-to-the-fried-egg-newsletter/ Also check out our Membership - Fried Egg Golf Club - which includes in-depth course reviews and daily blog posts: https://thefriedegg.com/membership/ Check out our other course profile videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjqqxh4N0xEaxZ_jhhQBcu901PmlUU-J8 Fried Egg Golf on social media: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/fried_egg_golf Twitter - https://twitter.com/fried_egg_golf The Shotgun Start on social media: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/shotgunstartpod Twitter - https://x.com/TheShotgunStart The Fried Egg team: Andy Johnson - https://twitter.com/AndyTFE Brendan Porath - https://twitter.com/BrendanPorath Garrett Morrison - https://twitter.com/garrett_TFE Joseph LaMagna - https://twitter.com/JosephLaMagna Will Knights - https://twitter.com/WillKnightsTFE Meg Adkins - https://twitter.com/megadkins_TFE PJ Clark - https://twitter.com/TheRealPJClark Matt Rouches - https://www.instagram.com/mattrouches Cameron Hurdus - https://www.instagram.com/cameronhurdus