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The dust is still settling on the news that LIV Golf is to wind down after five seasons, following BC Partners’ decision to withdraw from a proposed $300m investment deal intended to launch LIV Golf 2.0.
As a result, the focus has swiftly turned from which players would be on board with a relaunched league to where they will ply their trade next.
For some stars, the immediate future seems relatively straightforward.
Several high-profile players from the circuit, including Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia, are planning to play on the DP World Tour in 2027.
Crucially, that’s a move that would offer them a potential route back to the PGA Tour via the Race to Dubai rankings, which offers cards to the top 10 non-exempt players.
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However, while the door remains open for former LIV Golfers to return to the PGA Tour, other available routes are less straightforward, and the Returning Member Program, which led to Brooks Koepka‘s comeback earlier this year, is no longer available.
Brooks Koepka made an immediate PGA Tour return via the Returning Member Program, but that’s no longer available
(Image credit: Getty Images)
PGA Tour pro Erik van Rooyen, who is playing in this week’s World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico, believes players who left for LIV Golf ought to earn their way back to the PGA Tour.
The South African gave his thoughts to Golfweek’s Adam Schupak, saying: “Go back to Q-School,” before adding: “They gave the finger to the Tour. If you’re that good, go get it done.”
He continued: “I have nothing against those players, but if I went home and played the Sunshine Tour for three or four years, I’m not being welcomed back with my old spot on the PGA Tour.”
The Returning Member Program offered an immediate route back to the PGA Tour for some of LIV Golf’s biggest names, but at the time it was stressed that it was a one-time offer.
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In August, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp suggested it was unlikely to return to entice the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith in time for the 2027 season.
Addressing the media before the Tour Championship, he said: “There’s no current plans for a Returning Member Program like you saw earlier this year.”
Rolapp added: “We’ve been consistent. Anyone who’s interested in coming to the PGA Tour needs to demonstrate that they are relieved of their contractual commitments or any tail obligations they might have in that legacy model.”
Brian Rolapp doesn’t envisage the Returning Member Program making a comeback
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Per a report from The Athletic’s Gabby Herzig, players hoping for another route to a PGA Tour return may not discover if there is one until next year.
According to Herzig, the PGA Tour is not expected to clarify a potential pathway back for former LIV Golf players until January at the earliest, by which time LIV’s bankruptcy proceedings are expected to have concluded.
For now, former LIV Golf players hoping to return to the PGA Tour face an uncertain wait, with Van Rooyen making it clear that, in his view, any route back should be earned rather than handed to them.