With LIV Golf’s future in doubt, so is the future of all of its players.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund has withdrawn support for the tour for next season, meaning LIV will need to find new investment or risk collapsing entirely.
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LIV players have a one-year suspension from the PGA Tour dating back to their most recent LIV event, and while some may be able to strike deals with the tour as Brooks Koepka did, the rest will have to seek new homes for 2027 if LIV does indeed fold.
Many LIV players have burned bridges with the PGA Tour through their words and actions over the last few years. Phil Mickelson was among the players to file a lawsuit against the tour after he joined LIV, so it’s unlikely he’ll ever make an appearance on the PGA Tour again.
But what about other LIV players? What about those seeking a place on the Champions Tour after they have served their year-long suspension? According to Richard Bland, the tour’s stance on this has been made very clear.
Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Richard Bland told he’s not welcome on the Champions Tour
Bland said at LIV Virginia that he’s planning a “semi-retirement” after this season. At 53 years old, and with his tour’s future in doubt, he believes it’s time to step away from full-time competition.
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In theory, he’d be eligible for the Champions Tour after serving his year’s suspension. But Bland said that he’s been told that that won’t be an option for him. He said, “From what I’ve been told, I’m not hugely welcome there.
“As far as I’m aware, I was never given the exemption – well, I wasn’t given the exemption. I’m the only senior major champion never to get that exemption, and that’s fine, I don’t have an issue with that. I think the Champions Tour have made it pretty much impossible for anybody to come and play.
“I’m not going to go chasing it. I’ll be 54 years old, but I’m going to be banned for a year anyway. Like you say, I got asked the question the other day, would you consider going back to DP World Q-School? No.”
This might not be the case for every senior LIV player, but Bland has burned his bridges with the PGA Tour, and there is no rebuilding them.
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Why Richard Bland isn’t welcome on the Champions Tour
Even more than most of his LIV Golf colleagues, Bland has been a thorn in the side of the PGA Tour since joining LIV.
In 2024, Bland won the Senior PGA Championship and the U.S. Senior Open. Typically, winning the Senior PGA grants a player a one-year exemption to play on the PGA Tour Champions, but the tour said that he is ineligible to play in any Tour-sanctioned events because of his LIV status.
Bland has been one of the most outspoken critics of the partnership between the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. He believes the DP World Tour made a mistake by becoming a feeder circuit for the PGA Tour.
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He specifically hates the rule where the top 10 players on the DP World Tour earn PGA Tour cards every year, arguing it weakens the European circuit by giving away its best talent.
And Bland feels robbed of Senior Tour history by the PGA Tour. Because the Senior Open Championship is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour, Bland was barred from competing there in 2024 because he refused to pay the fines levied against him for joining LIV.
This prevented him from winning three senior majors in one year. His response was characteristically blunt: he stated he had no intention of paying the fines because he never planned to return to the DP World Tour anyway, effectively burning the bridge.
There is no love lost between Bland and the PGA Tour, so it’s no surprise he isn’t welcome on the Champions Tour.
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