Several representatives of LIV Golf’s players have begun reaching out to the PGA Tour to assess what the return process looks like, a source told ESPN on Wednesday.
The possible return of such players comes amid reports in recent weeks that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund will end its funding of LIV after the 2026 season, clouding the future of the tour.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that LIV is expected to tell its players on Thursday that PIF funding will stop at the end of the season. The Telegraph reported that LIV team captains have already been notified.
In addition, Sports Business Journal reported on Wednesday night that Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor who founded LIV, is resigning as chairman of the tour. The SBJ report said LIV plans to announce on Thursday a strategy to move forward without its main financial backer, including a new board and plans to seek external financial partners.
With LIV’s future uncertain, the PGA Tour is now in a position where it can choose how it wants players to return and prioritize which players it wants.
In January, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp introduced the “Returning Member Program” — a performance-based system for players who have been off the tour for at least two years and won the Players Championship or four major tournaments from 2022 to 2025. The players have until Feb. 2 to decide if they want to come back. Brooks Koepka accepted and several punishments included in it; other eligible players — Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith — chose not to participate.
Since the Returning Member Program has expired, the PGA Tour is evaluating certain players’ plans to return under new and potentially tighter restrictions.
“We are interested in having the best players who can help our tour,” Rolapp told the Wall Street Journal in a story published Wednesday. “Not all players can do that.”
Patrick Reed, who joined LIV in June 2022, did not renew his contract with the tour and was instead suspended for one year. He is eligible to return to the PGA Tour on August 25. Henrik Stenson and Pat Perez also opted out of LIV and were allowed to return under the same year-long ban for their final LIV event. Both now play on the 50-and-over PGA Tour Champions.
Factors that may affect how the PGA Tour accepts certain players back may include past performance, whether or not the player resigned (for example, Reed), whether he was playing on tour or had any status at all and whether he was involved in an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. Rolapp told the Wall Street Journal that many people on the tour have “scar tissue” about the players who were part of that case and he expects that matter to be accounted for “in some way or another.”
Of the 11 players who were part of that suit, DeChambeau stood out the most.
DeChambeau, a two-time US Open champion, and Rahm, a two-time major winner, are players who could bring significant value on and off the course to the PGA Tour when they return. DeChambeau is in the final year of his LIV contract, reportedly worth more than $100 million; Rahm signed a deal worth more than $300 million through 2023.
DeChambeau said in an interview with the Flushing It social media account earlier this month that “as long as LIV is around, I’m going to find a way for it to make sense.”
LIV’s next scheduled event is May 7-10 at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, DC.
That path ahead, however, is unclear due to the uncertainty of LIV’s future with PIF’s involvement ending.
Al-Rumayyan, who was once the chairman of the board, has long wanted to sit at the table with the sports leadership. He signed a framework agreement through 2023 with the PGA Tour and the European Tour and would join the board of PGA Tour Enterprises if approved.
The deal didn’t happen, except to settle the antitrust lawsuits. PGA Tour Enterprises instead received a small investment from a consortium of North American sports owners.
Scott O’Neil, who replaced Greg Norman last year as CEO of LIV Golf, told employees in an April 15 email that the 2026 season “is proceeding as planned, uninterrupted and in full swing.” But he later admitted during Mexico City’s LIV event that Saudi funding was good for the 2026 season, and he would “work like crazy” to create a strong business plan, raising questions about how he would keep his top players.
“The reality is you’re funded all season long and you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going,” O’Neil said. “But that’s no different than any other equity-funded private enterprise in human history.”
Golf Digest first reported the news of LIV players reaching the PGA Tour.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
