Patrick Reed and others leave LIV Golf, seek reinstatement with PGA Tour<\/a><\/p>\nIn actuality, the route that Reed is taking to put together a full PGA Tour schedule in 2027 \u2013 he\u2019ll play either through a top-10 finish in this year\u2019s DP World Tour season standings or with past champion status \u2013 was laid out long ago in the tour\u2019s regulations that guard against players making unauthorised starts on competing tours.<\/p>\n
Adam Scott, a member of the PGA Tour\u2019s Policy Board and Player Advisory Council, made a point to note that on Wednesday (US time) while talking to reporters after his morning pro-am round ahead of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was decided long ago; everybody should be comfortable with it,\u201d Scott said. \u201cBut it\u2019s the first time it\u2019s really happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fairness to the tour, they had a pathway back for guys and Patrick might be the first to get back through that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe other one (Returning Member Program) was created for a small group of people. I guess it possibly continues to happen, just with the way the LIV tour is structured under contracts, guys\u2019 contracts will end\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel good as part of the tour that we had a policy in place that\u2019s now getting used and hopefully it worked well.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the policy board, Scott was part of what he said was a unanimous vote for the Returning Member Program policy that also included Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith, all of whom decided to stay at LIV. For Reed\u2019s return, there was no vote needed. Scott, the past Masters champion, seemed to learn of Reed\u2019s decision when reporters asked him for his reaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s good things for the tour, and probably maybe more positive things for the golf fan,\u201d said Scott, noting that there\u2019s been a narrative in the past couple of years that fans want to see the best players in world compete in the same tournaments more often.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy personal opinion is that\u2019s little bit harsh,\u201d he said of downplaying the depth of star power on the PGA Tour. \u201cBut I understand what they\u2019re saying\u2026 and certainly with Brooks returning [and] Patrick might return soon. They\u2019re no joke. Brooks is an incredible player and Patrick\u2019s a major champion and a feisty competitor\u2026 So, hopefully the fans appreciate that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we\u2019re just dealing with it for the first time in this cycle, but, you know, it\u2019s hard having a crystal ball to look ahead and know how things play out.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"1238572729\"\/](\"https:\/\/golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2026\/1\/GettyImages-1238572729.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix\/1769643008171.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Photo: Ben Jared<\/p>\n
Harris English, this week\u2019s defending champion at Torrey Pines, said he learned of the Reed development today while watching TV in the fitness trailer. He said he knew a bit about Koepka\u2019s return in advance, but not Reed\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you\u2019re seeing, kind of the dominoes are starting to fall of maybe those guys on the LIV tour are not that happy out there and the grass is not greener on the other side,\u201d English said. \u201cThey\u2019re seeing the PGA Tour getting stronger and having more success, and kind of seeing that money\u2019s not the end all, be all. Like that doesn\u2019t fulfil them. It doesn\u2019t fulfil me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re still competitors; they\u2019re competitive people and they love playing in the biggest events against the best players in the world. For me, that\u2019s out here on the PGA Tour, and I think they\u2019re starting to realise that, that that\u2019s what fulfils them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite all of the bitter back-and-forth at times between PGA Tour and LIV players and supporters over the past four years, and the debate about possible punishments for those seeking to return to the US-based circuit, at least some players on the PGA Tour seem to be equanimous about the defectors coming back.<\/p>\n
Ludvig Aberg, the 26-year-old who\u2019s won twice on the PGA Tour since turning pro in 2023, has played mostly in majors against the likes of Koepka and Reed. The Swede said he had options to go to LIV, but \u201cI didn\u2019t like it; it wasn\u2019t anything I wanted to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n
In terms of those who are now looking to return, the world No.14 said, \u201cIf you\u2019re doing it the right way and you want to come back, I have no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reigning US Open champion J.J. Spaun said he believes the PGA Tour is the best in the world and that the return of players such as Koepka and Reed \u201cspeaks volumes to where the tour is headed\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think to add even more competition for us that have been here while they left, adding Brooks and Patrick, now, it\u2019s just strengthening our tour, which I think is great,\u201d Spaun said.<\/p>\n
Admitting that he might be taking an idealistic view, Spaun said he\u2019s \u201cgenerally optimistic\u201d about the future of the tour, while laughing about what he sees as golf\u2019s ability to rise above difficult situations. He explained in self-aware dramatic fashion: \u201cGolf always wins in the end. I\u2019m really conscious that a few people can\u2019t mess it up, and if they fiddle too much, they\u2019ll be caught out, and, you know, vanish from the game \u2013 like struck down by golf and removed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[Photo: Andy Lyons] With the news today that former Masters champion Patrick Reed is leaving LIV Golf and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[5487,4225,64,63,755,138747,15816,15812,14239,104668,44,70796,1747,231856,42300,85],"class_list":["post-447626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-adam-scott","tag-article","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-golf-digest","tag-harris-english","tag-j-j-spaun","tag-liv-golf","tag-ludvig-aberg","tag-news","tag-patrick-reed","tag-pga-tour","tag-pga-tour-player-advisory-council","tag-pga-tour-policy-board","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}