LIV Golf professionals could be welcomed home if the league ends.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp explained how he handled the return of Brooks Koepka from LIV and seems open to the idea of others following a similar path.
“Brooks got back on the tour because he made a phone call and said, ‘Look, my contract is up, and I’m ready to come back, so we’re thinking about it,'” Rolapp said on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday.
“We’ll respond when we have a chance to respond, but right now, we’re focused on improving the PGA Tour. But listen, I’ve said it publicly and I’ll say it again: I’m interested in everything that makes the PGA Tour better. That’s my job. That’s what I’m interested in doing. And that has no limits. And that’s how I’m going to focus on it.”
The idea of LIV players returning to the PGA Tour is a popular topic with reports emerging last week that the Saudi Personal Investment Fund (PIF) was withdrawing its financial support for the tour as part of a restructuring.
PIF’s support has allowed LIV Golf to throw huge guaranteed contract offers to players like Koepka, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau to lure them away from the PGA Tour.
LIV Golf is believed to have enough money to get through the 2026 season, which has eight events remaining, but its future beyond that is unclear.
“Listen, we read the same headlines you do,” Rolaab said. “We don’t know what’s going on there. We know these people are under contract. We will respect that.”
Koepka donated $5 million to charity and lost his ability to participate in the PGA Tour’s players’ rights program, which could have netted him between $50 million and $85 million.
Patrick Reed, another LIV transplant returning to the PGA, will have to wait a year since his last LIV event before he can prepare for the PGA again in August.
The potential return of Rahm and DeChambeau could be more complicated. DeChambeau has a thriving YouTube channel, making him less dependent on a return to the PGA.
The Athletic reports that the two-time US Open champion met with different organizations at The Masters and if LIV is to survive, he is seeking a contract in the neighborhood of $500 million as his current contract expires after this season.
Rahm has been involved in a dispute with the DP World Tour of Europe over fines and accused that league of “extortion” over requiring him to play six events to be eligible to play in the Ryder Cup.
If a PGA return comes at a cost like Koepka’s, it’s fair to wonder if Rahm is willing to pay it.
It all makes for a remarkable set of circumstances that Rolapp will have to navigate if LIV does not survive.