LIV Golf players are seeking a return to the PGA Tour after the Saudi Public Investment Fund withdrew support for the league.
We know already that Bryson DeChambeau spoke to PGA Tour officials at The Masters to explore his options, and he’s taken those negotiations public with a series of statements, which included saying he’s willing to do YouTube full time, and declaring the PGA Tour “isn’t doing great”.
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That has, of course, stolen the headlines, but there are a number of other LIV players with uncertain futures who may want to return. Joaquin Niemann said he’d love to come back to the PGA Tour, for instance.
Overall, the tour players have said they’re happy for the LIV players to return. Rory McIlroy took this a step further, adding that it would say a lot about any player that doesn’t want to compete on golf’s best tour.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp spoke at length about this and confirmed that he’s taking calls from LIV players about a return.
Photo by Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
Brian Rolapp confirms he’s spoken to LIV players about their future
Rolapp has been transparent throughout his process and sat down for an interview on the Rich Eisen Show to discuss the LIV Golf saga. During this conversation, he confirmed that he’s been taking calls from LIV players to discuss their options.
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Rolapp said, “I don’t want to talk about personal conversations, but I think it’s natural there’s a lot of people trying to figure out what their future might look like.”
This could spark controversy among players, who may not want to see LIV golfers return unpunished. They remained loyal to the PGA Tour, so why should LIV players be allowed to waltz back as if nothing had happened?
Rolapp said that he is conscious of this as he looks to make the best possible decision for the PGA Tour: “Fans have always been consistent; they want to see the best golfers together as often as possible. And I agree with that, that’s great. I also think, I’ve made this very clear publicly, I’m interested in whatever makes the PGA Tour better.
“But at the same time, there’s a reality that we have a membership, and anything we do to make the PGA Tour better we have to balance with the interests of our current membership and current golfers.
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“While I don’t have a lot of scar tissue from the past, it still exists. And I have to be conscious of that.
“You saw what Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed did. They made a decision, they got out of any commitments they had, they said we’re ready to come back, they said this is what we’re looking for, and the PGA Tour has that, and they found their way back.
“The PGA Tour may not be for everybody. What we’re building, I’m really excited about, our members are excited about, our fans are excited about. It may not excite some people. I would never begrudge somebody for making whatever business decision they made.
“But we ultimately want people who are really excited about what we are building, and I think over time we’ll just see how that plays out.”
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Brian Rolapp makes comment that should worry Jon Rahm
While DeChambeau’s LIV contract is up at the end of this season, that is not the case for Jon Rahm. He’s stuck in a multi-year deal with LIV Golf, and he said before LIV Virginia that he does not see a way out of it.
He may seek help from the PGA Tour to buy him out of this contract if he finds himself stuck on the tour in 2027, but judging by Rolapp’s comments on this, that seems unlikely.
Rolapp said, “LIV has talked about that they have funding until the end of their season, I think they’re working hard to see what life is like after that.
“The reality is, all of their guys are under contract, so until they’re not under contract, it’s not really an issue we need to worry about, so we’re not spending a lot of time thinking about it, honestly.
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“We’re spending most of our time thinking about our future and how to make the tour better.”
Rolapp’s stance is that it’s up to the players to get themselves out of their contracts, and then they can talk to the PGA Tour as free agents. So if there really is no way out of Rahm’s deal, he could be stuck there as the lone star on LIV next year.
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