The PGA Tour has no plans to offer a return pathway for LIV Golf members, CEO Brian Rolapp confirmed Tuesday.
That’s bad news for any players in the rival league who might have been hoping to follow Brooks Koepka’s lead.
At the beginning of this year, Koepka agreed to pay $5 million to charity and forfeit player equity grants for five years, in addition to not being eligible for any of the tour’s signature events without qualifying.
“In terms of where we are today, we are not currently contemplating a returning member program like the one you saw in January,” Rolapp said during a conference call to discuss the eligibility for the new competition model on the PGA Tour that starts in 2028.
Rolapp explained why the returning member program is no longer on the table.
“As I said a few weeks ago in Atlanta, there are really three things when it comes to anyone who wants to compete on the PGA Tour,” Rolapp began. “One, 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 organization; 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.”
LIV Golf recently filed for bankruptcy and is seeking alternative funding after losing the billion-dollar backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Former PGA Tour players who joined the LIV ranks after the circuit launched in 2022 were suspended from the PGA Tour for violating the conflicting tournament provision in their memberships.
“Everyone at the PGA Tour, myself included, has been focused on what is best for the organization,” Rolapp said. “The items approved by the boards yesterday are part of the progression in building the optimal competitive model for the future.
“I think the Future Competition Committee was really just focused on the competitive model that we’ve been discussing over the past few months,” he added. “So, it was really with a broader lens of how do we build the best tour. It was not really looked at specifically on any one particular … on LIV or any other consideration. So that’s generally how we thought about it.”
