Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Welcome back! In my last post, we examined how LIV Golf is unlikely to survive after the Saudi Public Investment Fund ends its financial support soon.
Will the PGA Tour choose to punish the LIV Golf stars who left in 2022 and 2023?
Or, should the PGA Tour take the high road and find a reasonable way to bring back the LIV golfers for the benefit of professional golf fans?
It’s time for ol’ SwampSwami to present a few possible outcomes should LIV Golf fold its operations following its final 2026 event in late August.
Let’s start with my least favorite idea and conclude with my preferred solution.
First idea – The PGA Tour tells all LIV golfers that they are not welcome back. Ever.
My Mom would have called this one, “Cutting off your nose to spite your face”. It’s simply not going to happen.
I understand the angst. Many pro golfers and fans are still hot about LIV’s top names accepting $100 million or more from a country (Saudi Arabia) which has a poor history on human rights issues.
The seed money and current operating capital provided to LIV Golf, indeed, originated from the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
However, a total ban on LIV Golfers would be a terrible business idea for the PGA Tour. Golf fans want to see the best players competing on the course every week.
If you still can’t get over it, perhaps celebrate the fact that Saudi investors have lost more than $5 billion on LIV Golf over the past five years.
Second idea – The PGA Tour tells LIV golfers to sit out for at least one full year. They would then be permitted to start over. That involves earning a PGA Tour spot at the annual Qualifying school or playing in the Korn Ferry (developmental) Tour in 2027 in an attempt to earn a PGA Tour card for 2028.
This would likely send the majority of LIV Golf players to play in the DP World (European) tour next season. The prize money for that tour is much lower, and the players’ travel costs are significant.
From the DP World Tour’s viewpoint, adding a number of LIV golfers would boost interest in their tour. Perhaps the DP World Tour might add events at a few popular LIV Golf destinations such as Adelaide, Australia and in South Africa.
Another factor to consider is that an across-the-board ban by the PGA Tour for at least one year may cause some LIV golfers to sue the PGA Tour.
It is important to understand that PGA Tour golfers are not employees of the PGA Tour. They are considered contract labor.
PGA Tour golfers are not guaranteed any prize money when they tee-up at traditional full-field golf tournaments. They earn money only after making the 36-hole cut by placing in the upper half of the field.
LIV Golfers could argue the contract labor position in court should the PGA Tour deny their right to compete for one or more years.
Third idea – Utilize the same method which recently allowed Brooks Koepka to return to the PGA Tour this year
Five-time major championship winner Brooks Koepka had one year left on his LIV Golf contract in 2026. He quietly negotiated his way out of the final year of his LIV Golf contract following the 2025 season.
Brooks Koepka then visited with the PGA Tour and was able to cut a deal to return this year in 2026.
Koepka had to agree to certain conditions:
He must pay a $5 million donation to charity.
Koepka is not eligible to participate in the new PGA Player Equity Program.
He is not eligible to receive any money from the season-ending FedEx Cup Bonus Pool.
Upon rejoining the PGA Tour, Brooks Koepka has received several tournament sponsor’s invitations to participate in full-field PGA events this spring. Those tournament title sponsors should be permitted to add players (including other former LIV golfers) whose presence boosts local and national interest in their PGA Tour event.
The “Koepka Plan” could be applied to the other returning LIV Golf stars beginning in 2027. A sliding scale could be used to determine the amount of each player’s charitable donation based on the size of that player’s LIV Golf signing bonus.
This idea seems plausible to me. However…
The PGA Tour is unhappy that other top LIV golfers failed to accept this type of “olive branch” offer made earlier in 2026. Revenge may sound like fun to some, but most pro golf fans just want to see the best players on the course every week.
The PGA Tour is a business. Listening to golf fans who want to see the top players back in competition should be the Tour’s foremost priority.
It is also Customer Service 101. The customer isn’t always right, but the customer is ALWAYS the customer!
Fourth and my preferred idea – Listen to the golf fans and let’s roll again in 2027!
Anyone who has watched the four golf major championships over the past few years can see how much golf fans enjoyed watching top LIV golfers like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm competing in those events.
The final twosome of DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy in the 2025 Masters made for some great final round drama. It’s time for all parties to come together soon and make men’s golf stronger than before.
A personal analogy may be in order.
Perhaps you (like me) have been fortunate enough to have been hired by an employer, stayed for a number of years, left for another company, and then rehired by your original employer to fill an open position.
We had our reasons for leaving. Earning a good reputation during your first time working for that original employer laid the groundwork for your possible return.
Of course, most of us did not receive a hefty signing bonus from any employer.
Pro golfers who left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf received some rather large signing bonuses. Whether the amount was $1 million or $300 million, it was a personal business decision which involved risks to be weighed by each player.
Importantly, the amount of the LIV Golf signing bonus received by a golfer should be none of the PGA Tour’s business.
The PGA Tour’s primary concern – today – should be in determining how much value their enterprise would gain by adding the top LIV golfers to some of their golf tournaments beginning next season.
Let’s get to work and create a win/win/win deal for the fans, the PGA Tour, and LIV Golf!
*The SwampSwamiSports.com favored proposal covers only the upcoming 2026-2027 PGA golf season
Step 1 – Allow each regular field (100 or more players) PGA Tour event to have the option of inviting up to ten former LIV golfers to participate in their local event.
This would be in addition to the normal number of PGA Tour players scheduled to appear that week. No PGA player would lose a spot in the field. Former LIV golfers would not be eligible to participate in any of the PGA Tour’s “no cut” reduced-field events or The Player’s Championship. All former LIV golfers (regardless of the number of FedEx points they earned during the regular season) would be ineligible to participate in the 2027 FedEx Cup series of year-ending events.
Step 2 – Any PGA tournament earnings by a former LIV golfer in the 2026-2027 season will be split as follows – 1/3 to the golfer, 1/3 dedicated to the PGA Tour Players’ Retirement Fund, and 1/3 going to the local tournament’s primary charity or charities.
The golfer would be financially “punished” by being allowed to keep just 1/3 of his weekly earnings. Having another 1/3 going directly into long-time PGA Tour players’ retirement accounts is intended to honor PGA golfers who didn’t bolt for LIV Golf. The final 1/3 going to the local tour stop’s charity will help make a positive impact in that community. It’s also a smart public relations move.
Step 3 – If any former LIV Golf player should earn enough FedEx points during the 2026-2027 season to qualify for a Tour Card in 2028, the player should be welcomed back onto the PGA Tour.
Let’s say that the Zurich Classic team event in New Orleans invites LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm to play as a team next spring. If they should win the golf tournament, those two players may earn enough FedEx points to receive their PGA Tour cards for 2028.
LIV Golfers must earn their way back onto the regular PGA Tour – by their performance!
Step 4 – If any former LIV golfer earns enough FedEx points to qualify for a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2028, the player is welcomed to join that tour.
A former LIV golfer may be able to place high enough during limited 2027 PGA Tour events may qualify to play on the Korn Ferry (developmental) Tour in 2028. The player would spend their next season trying to win events on that tour in an effort to regain their PGA Tour card.
Step 5 – All LIV Golfers will be permanently ineligible to participate in the PGA Player Equity Program.
This relatively new long-term incentive bonus plan was designed to incentivize PGA Tour members who stayed with the Tour instead of pursuing an offer from LIV Golf. It is only fair that the LIV Golfers should be permanently excluded from that bonus pool.
In summary:
My program would give PGA Tour tournament title sponsors the right to invite up to ten LIV golfers to play in their events to boost public interest without eliminating any PGA Tour players’ spots in the field. Those tournaments may also decide not to invite any LIV Golfers if they so choose.
The LIV golfers must perform at a very high level in 2027 in order to have any chance of securing a PGA Tour card beginning in 2028.
PGA Tour players have little to be concerned about except for some added competition. LIV Golf players would be at a serious disadvantage, because they are only eligible to play in a limited number of events. However, any LIV golfer collecting enough FedEx points during next season to qualify for the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour would have earned a playing card based on performance.
The PGA Tour and its television partners also win.
There will be increased interest in traditional full-field tour stops which have traditionally struggled to attract to top PGA Tour names. It’s good for business.
Most importantly, golf fans win big! Local PGA tournament fields will include more top names in their fields beginning in 2027.
It’s time to get over the feuding and sniping.
Fans simply want to see the best players in the world competing every week. LIV Golf’s expected demise could result in a much improved PGA Tour very soon.