PGA Tour says returning players must earn places after LIV bankruptcy
PGA Tour commissioner Brian Rolapp told reporters at Wentworth that golfers seeking to return following LIV’s bankruptcy filing last week will not receive special treatment, and suggested players such as Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith and Tyrrell Hatton are likely to have to re-earn status by competing in Europe in 2027.
The collapse of LIV’s financial backing beyond this year has left that business seeking to launch a “2.0” version, with organisers warning that the huge deals for players such as Rahm and Smith will no longer be sustainable. Technically, those golfers remain LIV employees, and Rahm said at Wentworth on Tuesday that “there is a long legal process they have to go through before a lot of things fall into place”. Golfers are, for now, at the behest of courts and bankruptcy proceedings.
The PGA Tour is examining mechanisms for players to regain access via the DP World Tour and has plans to create tiers of competition on the PGA Tour. Tour officials are working on how cards can be earned from the DP World Tour in future, a change that has been discussed as part of restructuring competition pathways.
Rolapp set out the PGA Tour’s guiding principles on eligibility and discipline, saying: “The PGA Tour is built on meritocracy. Every player, whether they are a member or want to become one, must earn their place. Two, we are a membership organisation; we have rules and those rules exist for lots of reasons, including fairness and competitive balance. Rules matter, and they must be enforced. Which brings me to No 3, accountability and discipline. These are essential elements for any sports league and are certainly for the integrity of the PGA Tour and the sport. It’s what holds the Tour together. Those are guiding principles for us. In terms of where we are today, we are not currently contemplating a returning-member programme like the one you saw in January.”
Brooks Koepka was previously reintroduced to the PGA Tour in January in return for sporting and financial sacrifices, while other players declined that route. Observers inside the sport expect, once legal processes conclude, a substantial movement of players back toward the PGA Tour.
Rory McIlroy, speaking at Wentworth, argued that those progressing from Europe should move directly into the top tier in the United States, saying: “I don’t see any reason why a DP World Tour player would go to the [second tier] Challenger Series. I don’t see that as an upward move in your career. I see it as a very lateral move. So it would just be, OK, how many cards is reasonable to give to the DP World Tour for the Championship Series? I would imagine that is what the ongoing discussions are.”
On that point Rolapp said: “We have not determined what the DP World Tour cards will be, as of yet. That’s under discussion. I don’t see any scenarios where there’s no Championship Series cards.”