LIV Golf pros could be welcomed home if their league folds.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp explained how he handled Brooks Koepka’s return from LIV and it sounds like he’s open to the idea of others following a similar path.
“Brooks came back on to the Tour because he made a phone call and said, ‘Look, I’m out of my contract, I’m ready to come back,’ so we’re thinking about it,” Rolapp said on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday.
“We’ll react when we have an opportunity to react, but right now, we’re focused on making the PGA Tour better. But listen, I’ve said it publicly and I’ll say it again: I’m interested in whatever makes the PGA Tour better. That’s what my job is. That’s what I’m interested in doing. That has no limit. That’s how I’ll focus on it.”
The notion of LIV players returning to the PGA Tour is a popular topic with reports surfacing last week that Saudi Arabia’s Personal Invest Fund (PIF) was pulling its financial support of the tour as part of a restructuring.
PIF’s backing allowed LIV Golf to throw huge guaranteed contract offers at players like Koepka, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau to lure them away from the PGA Tour.
It is believed that LIV Golf has enough money to get through the 2026 season, which has eight events left, but its future beyond that is unclear.
“Listen, we’re reading all the same headlines you’re reading,” Rolapp said. “We don’t know what’s going on over there. We know those guys are under contract. We’ll respect that.”
Koepka donated $5 million to charity and forfeited his ability to participate in the PGA Tour’s Player Equity Program, which potentially could have netted him somewhere between $50 million-$85 million.
Patrick Reed, the other LIV transplant headed back to the PGA, has to wait a year since his most recent LIV event before he can tee it up for the PGA again in August.
A potential return for Rahm and DeChambeau could be more complicated. DeChambeau has a thriving YouTube channel, which would make him less dependent on returning to the PGA.
The Athletic reported that the two-time U.S. Open champ met with different organizations at The Masters and if LIV was to survive, he is seeking a contract in the $500 million neighborhood as his current one is up after this season.
Rahm has feuded with Europe’s DP World Tour over fines and accused that league of “extortion” over mandating that he play six events in order to be eligible to play in the Ryder Cup.
If a PGA return comes at a cost like Koepka’s did, it’s fair to wonder if Rahm would be willing to pay it.
It all sets up a fascinating set of circumstances Rolapp will have to navigate if LIV doesn’t survive.