PGA Tour Winner Set For Second-Consecutive Start Thanks To Brooks Koepka Rule

Following on from The Players Championship, where Cameron Young claimed the PGA Tour's Flagship Event, the circuit moves to Innisbrook's Copperhead Course and the Valspar Championship.

The final event of the Florida Swing, a strong field will be present for the tournament, which has seen the number of players in the field go from 133 to 135, due to the inclusion of five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka.

Because of Koepka's return to the PGA Tour from the LIV Golf League, numbers in events he now competes in increase by two, so that three balls are used for the first two rounds.

At The Players Championship, Seamus Power and Patton Kizzire were the fortunate pros to make it in the field and, ahead of the Valspar Championship, it's Power who is once again the lucky recipient of the extra spots available. Matt Kuchar has also secured a tee time via the new 'Koepka rule'.

In fact, Power and Kuchar also have numerous other professionals to thank, with multiple players withdrawing from the Valspar on both Sunday night and Monday.

Robert MacIntyre, who finished fourth at The Players Championship, withdrew shortly after the conclusion of that tournament, while Keith Mitchell, William Mouw and Sudarshan Yellamaraju also pulled out on Monday.

All three men played at TPC Sawgrass last week, with Yellamaraju securing a tie for fifth, which was his best PGA Tour finish of his career. It pocketed him a $925,000 paycheck, which surpassed his entire career earnings to that point.

As those pros take a week off, it's Power who will look to take advantage of the inclusion, something he did last week at The Players Championship as he made the cut.

Although he finished T70th, he did net over $50,000 for his efforts, as well as a handful of FedEx Cup points that could prove crucial towards the end of the PGA Tour season.

Following his addition to the field last week, the Irishman said he would be saying thanks to Koepka - and he'll likely be doing the same again this week.

“I haven’t seen Brooks yet this week,” Power told Golf Digest prior to The Players. “Hopefully I’ll see him at some point.

“It wasn’t even something that was on my radar a couple weeks ago. It's great, he's back on tour. The fact he got me in this week is a bonus.”

"I think every week somebody's thanked me, which has been kind of - it's weird," Brooks Koepka said last week.

"I don't know. Just never been thanked for playing an event before. So it was cool. I mean, it's kind of nice.

"I mean, it's a good opportunity for those guys to get in and play, and if they play good, you know, hopefully keep it running for the rest of the year because pretty much I would say going to be between the same, you know, 15 to 20 guys that are pretty much going to get in, it's a good opportunity."

Power is playing on the PGA Tour this season with conditional status after his exemption for winning the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship ran out last fall and he finished outside the top 100 the FedEx Cup points list in 2025 (117th).