PGA Tour commish says no path back planned for LIV golfers - ESPN

ATLANTA — PGA Tour CEO/commissioner Brian Rolapp said Tuesday that the tour has no current plan to bring back the Returning Member Program, which would be a potential pathway for Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith to return from the LIV Golf League.

With LIV Golf's future in doubt, those major champions and others might be looking for a different tour to play in 2027.

Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka used the new Returning Member Program to come back to the PGA Tour in January after leaving LIV Golf. As part of the deal, Koepka agreed to forfeit player equity shares for the next five years and wasn't eligible for the $100 million FedEx Cup bonus program this season.

Koepka also agreed to make a $5 million donation to charity, at the request of the PGA Tour.

«No, currently there's no current plans for [the] Returning Member Program like you saw earlier this year,» Rolapp said Tuesday during a news conference at East Lake Golf Club, the site of this week's Tour Championship.

The program was open to LIV golfers who had been away from the PGA Tour for at least two years — and who won the Players Championship or one of the four majors (the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship) since 2022.

DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith were the only other golfers eligible to return, but they declined and remained with LIV Golf.

At the time, Rolapp said the program wasn't a precedent.

Some PGA Tour members, such as Masters champion Rory McIlroy, have been vocal about whether LIV golfers should be allowed to come back to their former tour.

«I mean, I would argue, have they brought value to LIV?» McIlroy said at last week's BMW Championship in St. Louis. «I think the PGA Tour's in a really good spot.»

Other