Bryson, Rahm, Smith committed to LIV, decline PGA Tour return - ESPN

LIV Golf League captains Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Jon Rahm said Tuesday that they're not planning to follow Brooks Koepka back to the PGA Tour.

Speaking to reporters at a LIV preseason news conference in Palm Beach, Florida, DeChambeau, Smith and Rahm said they plan to remain with the Saudi Arabian-financed breakaway circuit this season.

«I had no idea, no idea that that would happen,» DeChambeau, who is in the final year of his LIV Golf contract, said of Koepka's return to the PGA Tour. «No idea what the penalties would even be. Right now, I've got a contract. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do at LIV Golf this year.»

Rahm, who was the last high-profile golfer to join LIV Golf, doing so in December 2023, is believed to have at least two years left on his contract.

«I'm not planning on going anywhere,» he said. "[A] very similar answer to what Bryson gave. I wish Brooks the best. As far as I'm concerned, I'm focused on the league and my team this year, and hopefully we can repeat as champions again."

Those three LIV golfers are eligible to return to the PGA Tour under a new Returning Member Program, which is open to those who have been away from the PGA Tour for at least two years — and who have won the Players Championship or one of the four majors (the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship) since 2022. If they did return, it would be under certain conditions and with severe financial penalties.

DeChambeau won the 2024 U.S. Open; Rahm captured the 2023 Masters; and Smith collected the Players Championship and Open Championship in 2022.

«I made a decision to come out here and spend more time at home, and I'm not giving that away,» Smith told reporters. «I'll be on LIV for years