PGA Tour ‘not contemplating’ allowing more LIV returns

The PGA Tour is not considering a returning member programme that would allow players from LIV Golf to come back to the US-based circuit.

Brooks Koepka was among those who returned earlier this year from LIV, but PGA Commissioner Brian Rolapp told reporters a week after LIV Golf filed for bankruptcy protection that accountability and discipline are guiding principles for the PGA Tour.

“In terms of where we are today, we are not currently contemplating a returning-member programme like the one you saw ‌in January,” Rolapp said on a call to discuss details of the PGA Tour’s two-tiered system set for launch in 2028.

“Everyone at the PGA Tour, myself included, has been focused on what is best for the organisation.”

LIV’s bankruptcy filing has left the playing futures of some of the breakaway circuit’s biggest ‌names in doubt.

Major champions Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, two of the sport’s more popular players, were listed as the top unsecured creditors with each owed more than $5m (€4.33m).

Five-times major champion Koepka ‌took advantage of a limited-time returning member programme in January to rejoin the ‌PGA Tour after leaving LIV Golf last December.

Koepka’s return came at a cost, with the former world number one facing a five-year forfeiture of potential equity in the PGA Tour’s Player Equity Programme, representing an estimated $50-85m (€43-€74m) loss depending on his performance and tour growth.

LIV has been preparing for its next iteration ever since the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia said in April that further investment in the rebel circuit no longer aligned with its strategy and that it would cut funding at the close of the 2026 season.

PIF owns 100% of LIV Golf’s equity, according to its ‌bankruptcy petition.

LIV hopes to exit from bankruptcy by early 2027.