A PGA Tour caddie has sparked fresh speculation that Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith could all be reconsidering their LIV Golf futures, following a week of growing uncertainty around the Saudi-backed league’s long-term financial backing.
According to Golfweek reporter Adam Schupak, the unnamed caddie believes representatives for LIV Golf’s biggest stars may now be quietly re-engaging with PGA Tour officials to explore whether previously declined return pathways could be reopened.
The suggestion comes amid reports that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which underpins LIV Golf, is about to remove its commitment beyond the 2026 season.
While no official confirmation has been made, the uncertainty has reignited talk of player movement back towards the PGA Tour.
The PGA Tour’s Returning Membership Program has already facilitated one high-profile comeback in Brooks Koepka, who returned earlier this season after leaving LIV Golf at the end of 2025.
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The newly-designed scheme, devised by new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, allowed any player with a major or Players Championship title between 2022 and 2025 to reapply for Tour membership.
Koepka was able to take advantage of the new program, but Patrick Reed, who also chose to quit LIV Golf this season, was unable. Instead, Reed’s suspension on the PGA Tour will end this summer and he will be able to officially return as a PGA Tour member in August.
The Returning Membership criteria, when it was first set in January, did apply to DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith, but all of them turned it down before the February deadline.
Schupak is reporting one unnamed PGA Tour caddie believes those players’ camps will likely now be revisiting that decision in light of LIV’s evolving financial outlook.
“One caddie predicted that Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith’s management teams had to be reaching out to the Tour to see if the offer they declined before a Feb. 1 deadline could be back on the table,” Schupak wrote for Golfweek.
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“Let the negotiations begin,” he added.
The speculation has intensified after reports have claimed the PIF will remove its funding of the league past the 2026 season, raising questions over LIV’s long-term viability.
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has since criticised unnamed sources and disputed suggestions of definitive long-term decisions.
However, in notable recent comments to TNT Sports on Thursday, O’Neil did acknowledge future funding models in sport are never guaranteed and require continuous planning.
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The PIF has pumped a reported $5bn into LIV Golf since it started in the summer of 2022.
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Last year, it was reported that LIV’s net losses across its international markets outside the United States had surged to $462m (£340m) in 2024.
That took its total losses to more than $1.1bn (£810m) since the league launched.
LIV Golf’s Jon Rahm and Victor Perez
Within PGA Tour circles, as a result of heavy rumours that the breakaway league is in severe danger of losing its bankroller, there is now growing acceptance that elite LIV Golf players could ultimately be reintegrated to the Tour.
Five-time PGA Tour winner Harris English, a member of the Player Advisory Council, has told Golfweek that bringing back players of Rahm, DeChambeau and Smith’s calibre would significantly strengthen the circuit, particularly with future sponsor and broadcast negotiations approaching for ’27 and beyond.
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English admitted that while exemption structures and eligibility rules would need to be resolved, there is confidence within leadership that a workable framework could be found if reunification becomes realistic.
“We’ll have to figure something out because adding some of those guys will put our Tour back where it belongs with our TV contracts coming up. That would be a good position to be in,” English told Schupak.
“I like where the Tour is right now, I like what Brian Rolapp is doing in his limited time so far. I know we’ll have a lot of conflicting opinions on who comes back, how do the exemptions work but I have faith in not only Rolapp but Keith, Mav, Adam and Tiger when he gets back.”
Bryson DeChambeau
DeChambeau is seen as a particularly pivotal figure in any potential movement.
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The American’s LIV contract is nearing its end this season, with reports suggesting he has sought a substantial increase on his original deal from $125m to $500m.
Given news the PIF is going to soon pull out of funding the league, that deal would seem highly unlikely at this stage of proceedings.
Unless LIV Golf is able to find a new business partner over the coming months, of course.
DeChambeau is considered one of the most popular players in the sport in 2026, largely a result of his new-found fame on YouTube and social media.
Bryson DeChambeau missed the cut at The Masters
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There is also a notion that the likes of DeChambeau, Rahm, Smith and others will want to get back on the PGA Tour, too.
That debate has been shaped by LIV players’ results at last week’s Masters Tournament, the first major of the season.
Both DeChambeau and Rahm were among the pre-tournament favourites at famed Augusta National but they failed to contend, with DeChambeau missing the cut and Rahm finishing well down the leaderboard.
Tyrrell Hatton did at least salvage some pride for LIV Golf with a tie for third, marking his best-ever major finish, but 29 of the top 30 players on the leaderboard at The Masters were PGA Tour players.
Many critics and analysts consider the courses they are playing on LIV Golf at this very moment in time are simply not preparing players to compete on the biggest stage.
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While LIV Golf events do now receive Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, they are in limited form in comparison to the PGA Tour.
A number of LIV players are still falling short of eligibility into all four majors as a result, and that has to be a continued worry for some, none more so than Joaquin Niemann, who despite winning five times on LIV Golf in 2025 failed to qualify for the 2026 Masters.
Jon Rahm
There is no confirmation that any formal negotiations are underway for the likes of Rahm and DeChambeau to both return to the PGA Tour.
However, according to Schupak’s latest reporting on Golfweek, there is a growing sense on the PGA Tour that early conversations could already be taking place behind the scenes.
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With funding questions hanging over LIV’s future and the PGA Tour continuing to refine its membership structure, player movement between the two circuits remains possible.
Would you like to see the likes of Rahm, DeChambeau and Smith return to the PGA Tour again? Share your thoughts and comments below, or head over to our social media channels – @GolfMagic
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