LIV Golf pros won’t play any more tournaments on LIV Golf.
But could they soon play on the PGA Tour?
At the moment, the answer depends on how you define soon.
That appears to be how things stand after LIV said on Thursday that the league would not restructure following the loss of its one-time financier, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, and that it would wind down, moving toward full liquidation. When contacted by GOLF.com, a PGA Tour spokesperson was brief, saying the league didn’t have a statement “at this time,” but the official did refer to a pair of previous statements made by Tour CEO Brian Rolapp that may offer hints at what may come.
In mid-September, while announcing details of a new format coming to the PGA Tour in 2028, Rolapp affirmed that the Tour would not re-introduce its “Returning Member Program” to bring back one-time Tour pros who had joined LIV. Presumably then, those pros will continue to face a one-year suspension — and not be brought back quickly under a series of fines and penalties, as had been outlined in January under the Returning Member Program. Only Brooks Koepka took the offer, though under its specifics, it had also been available to Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith.
But could there be other pathways to PGA Tour play in 2027? At the PGA Tour’s Championship in August, Rolapp had been asked that, and in response, he said that the Tour, “to this point,” hadn’t made any decisions. He also said that any player interested in playing on the Tour needed “to demonstrate that they are relieved of their contractual commitments or any tail obligations they might have in that legacy model,” which Rolapp said Koepka had done.
Since those statements, multiple players had left LIV before Thursday’s announcement by the league. Now the entire league will not exist. Besides the PGA Tour, other tours could be in play for ex-LIV pros, including the DP World Tour, a route that Masters winner Patrick Reed took this year. After its season, the DP World Tour will award PGA Tour cards to the top 10 finishers in its year-long points race, and Reed is currently No. 2 on that list.
During the September press conference, Rolapp also said there were “really three things when it comes to anyone who wants to compete on the PGA Tour.”
“One, the PGA Tour is built on meritocracy,” he said. “Every player, whether they are a member or want to become one, must earn their place. Two, we are a membership organization; we have rules, and those rules exist for lots of reasons, including fairness and competitive balance. Rules matter, and they must be enforced.
“Which brings me to number three, accountability and discipline. These are essential elements for any sports league and are certainly for the integrity of the PGA Tour and the sport. It’s what holds the Tour together. Those are guiding principles for us.”
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