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<\/p>\nBRADENTON, Fla. \u2014 Pat Perez was outside the Concession Golf Club clubhouse Wednesday when he ran into longtime PGA Tour player Paul Goydos, who questioned whether Perez had actually turned 50 in advance of his debut this week.<\/p>\n
Reunited with his longtime caddie, Mike Hartford, Perez will begin play in the Senior PGA Championship on Thursday in his first competitive golf in 19 months.<\/p>\n
The three-time PGA Tour winner who had a rocky exit to play LIV Golf for three years before a broadcasting stint is back on a limited run with 50-and-over golf in 2026 as he serves a suspension which keeps him from playing in PGA Tour Champions-sanctioned events until 2027.<\/p>\n
And while the circumstances behind that are complicated, Perez, who turned 50 on March 1, is thankful nonetheless.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew when I was signing with LIV, it could be over,\u201d Perez said in an interview Wednesday regarding his return to the PGA Tour. \u201cI knew it. It\u2019s why it took me a week to decide whether to go or not. I didn\u2019t think there would be any chance [to come back]. So I had to take that into consideration … but I wouldn\u2019t do anything over, except maybe TV.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez, who made more than $17 million in prize money in his three LIV seasons, wasn\u2019t retained by the 4Aces team following the 2024 season despite finishing within the top 48 players.<\/p>\n
Since he was not top 24 and did not have a contract, he was vulnerable to being left out.<\/p>\n
I was disappointed,\u201d he said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t tell me for months and that part wasn\u2019t right. So I was a little upset by it. That kind of sucked. The communication was a little off. But I have no ill will towards anybody. I had a great time. I had a blast, I did. It was incredible the way they treat you.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pat Perez (right) celebrated with his LIV Golf team in Adelaide in 2023. | Mike Frey-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Perez was offered a chance to do TV as an on-course reporter in 2025 for the LIV broadcasts and decided to take the opportunity\u2014one that prolonged his return to PGA Tour co-sanctioned events.<\/p>\n
The Tour\u2019s stance is that working on the broadcast is \u201cmarketing\u201d for LIV Golf and thus in violation of its media rights. Hence, he is suspended for a year beyond his last association with LIV, which was in late August.<\/p>\n
But \u2026 Perez is not allowed to compete in regular PGA Tour Champions events until January because an added penalty was applied as he did not resign his membership in 2022, playing seven events for LIV that year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn’t really look into it,\u201d said Perez, who does not have an agent. \u201cI thought because I didn’t resign, that would have been better, but it was actually worse … and again, I didn’t look into the rules enough, but the TV thing was fun. I had a great time. I got to learn the ins and outs of TV, because I thought one day I might do it down the line, but looking back at it now, I probably may not have done it so that I could have played this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez can only play this week\u2019s Senior PGA Championship as well as the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto in July and the Senior Open Championship at Gleneagles. He is undecided about perhaps playing DP World Tour events or Asian Tour events at some point and getting ready for next year.<\/p>\n
And he admits he\u2019s got some work to do anyway. Perez did not pick up a club for nine months after leaving LIV Golf and said he only got serious about getting ready in September.<\/p>\n
\u201cI play every day back with the boys at Silverleaf [in Phoenix]. But it\u2019s warm, the ball is going a mile. It\u2019s not really tournament golf,\u201d Perez said. \u201cThen you get to a course like this, and all of a sudden you\u2019re starting to see some different shots and winds, and the grass is completely different \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cPlus, you know, I\u2019ve been off. I\u2019ve been training like hell and just getting ready for this, so I\u2019m not tired, but the walking the first day was tough, because at Silverleaf we don’t take more than 40 steps a day. As long as you don\u2019t knock it over the pin, you\u2019re pretty fine. We get pretty spoiled there by that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI walked 18 holes [golf carts are not allowed at the Senior PGA] in pants for three days, and I actually feel better now. I don’t know. I don\u2019t know where my game is at. I haven\u2019t played competitively in 19 months. I\u00a0have an idea of what I want to do, but I don\u2019t really have a whole lot of expectations. I\u2019d like to play well in these three that I have, but I\u2019m not really going to go overboard because you know, it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez is thankful for what he will get. He wishes he could play full time this year but is also O.K. with waiting, seeing that he was unsure it would ever happen at all.<\/p>\n
Perez joined LIV Golf with hopes of playing 50-and-over golf later<\/p>\n
Back when he joined LIV Golf, he hoped there might be a path a few years down the road when he turned 50. And then he realized that might only happen if there was a deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund, which backs LIV Golf. The June 2023 \u201cframework agreement\u201d gave him that hope.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought when they signed on June 6th, all this would be organized,\u201d Perez said. \u201cI was like, what, they\u2019ve got four years [before he turned 50] to get this s— organized. They\u2019re going to do some sort of deal. This is over, right? Lawsuits gone, something\u2019s going to happen. No problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s farther [apart] than\u00a0ever, it seems like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez said his phone had blown up when he woke Wednesday concerning reports about LIV Golf\u2019s demise<\/a>, a story said he\u2019s in the dark about like many others. He\u2019s moved on to a new phase.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a rookie again,\u201d said Perez, whose first year on the PGA Tour was 1998. \u201cI walk in the locker room here and it\u2019s like 2002.\u201d<\/p>\n
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