Any notion that players\u00a0lured away by the Saudi Arabia riches of LIV Golf\u00a0would never return to the PGA Tour doesn't hold much water these days. Five months from now, there could be as many as five ex-LIV players teeing it up at the season opener in California.<\/p>\n
Brooks Koepka was the first to return, and that didn't go the way he had hoped. He played 16 times and looked like a five-time major champion until his caddie handed him the putter. Koepka failed to reach the post-season at No. 94 in the FedEx Cup, a performance he described as \u201cpathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patrick Reed,\u00a0who decided not to renew with LIV\u00a0a week before it began the 2026 season, is leading the Race to Dubai on the European tour and is a lock to be among the leading 10 players not already exempt to get PGA Tour cards for 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always saw myself wanting to start and finish my career on the PGA Tour," Reed said. He will be playing the Nexo Championship next week in Scotland for a $3 million purse. Even one of the lesser \u201cChallenger Series\u201d events in the new tour schedule will feel like an upgrade.<\/p>\n
Others currently\u00a0among the leading 10\u00a0are Eugenio Chacarra, Bernd Wiesberger and Shaun Norris. All of them were part of LIV Golf when the rival league launched in 2022, and all have been away from LIV long enough to return without penalty (and without equity).<\/p>\n
The PGA Tour has a full plate as it tries to shore up a revamped schedule for 2028 and to create a post-season format that finally puts some meaning into the word \u201cplayoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian Rolapp, one year into his role as CEO of the PGA Tour, has never spent much time talking about LIV Golf because there's no need, especially now. Rolapp saying in a Bloomberg News interview that there was \u201cno merger, no conversations with LIV Golf,\u201d somehow made news. The framework agreement got rid of the lawsuits. That was key.<\/p>\n
But creating a path back will need to be added to the plate at some point.<\/p>\n
The renegade league is in survival mode without Saudi funding, and\u00a0while it is leaning into the concept of \u201cLIV 2.0\u201d with the promise of a lead investor, the numbers don't make sense. The Public Investment Fund spent more than $5 billion in five years, much of that to attract stars who went over to LIV because of the money.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many of them came because this was a good opportunity for them to make some money, and this second bite at the apple is equity instead of cash,\u201d LIV CEO Scott O\u2019Neil said last week when sharing the news of an agreement with an investor.<\/p>\n
He was full of more optimism than details, chief among them the size of the investment.<\/p>\n
And then the show went on. Joaquin Niemann won for the ninth time. Jon Rahm clinched the individual title for the third straight time and picked up a $6 million bonus, down from $18 million the last two years he won it.<\/p>\n
Scottie Scheffler won $10 million for winning the PGA Tour's regular season. The PGA Tour's new \u201cChampionship Series\u201d in 2028 offers $20 million purses. LIV Golf's restructuring will likely have prize funds half that size. The math is not that complicated.<\/p>\n
LIV ends its season next week in Indianapolis. And then what? Players will have months to contemplate their futures in golf while dropping in on the odd European tour or Asian Tour event.<\/p>\n
The day before O'Neil gave his update on a lead investor, Cameron Smith said about a return to the PGA Tour, "I mean, if it was the only option, I think that\u2019s where everyone would want to be for sure, 100 per cent.\u201d Lucas Herbert said his management has been in touch with the tour.<\/p>\n