PGA Tour CEO says league is contemplating LIV Golf participant returns

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PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has addressed the experiences and rumors involving LIV Golf's future, or potential lack thereof, with an easy message about the place the Tour's priorities lie amid unsure instances.

Final week, it was broadly reported that the Saudi Public Funding Fund (PIF) was making ready to chop off its funding of LIV Golf after saying a five-year funding technique centered on reprioritizing spending. With the Saudis being the only funders of the breakaway golf circuit, a stoppage of funds would, in all probability, finish the present iteration of LIV Golf.

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LIV Golf Mexico went on as scheduled over the weekend amid the very loud rumors. Two-time main champion Jon Rahm received the occasion, and on Sunday, LIV formally introduced it might be returning to Mexico in 2027 at a presently unspecified date.

Jon Rahm in motion through the first spherical of play at LIV Golf Riyadh on the Riyadh Golf Membership in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 4, 2026. (Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters)

Rolapp, the previous Govt Vice President of NFL Media, joined Monday's version of ' The Pat McAfee Show ' on ESPN and was clear whereas sharing his ideas concerning the experiences and rumors involving LIV Golf.

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Most notably, Rolapp admitted that the PGA Tour is considering potential pathways again for gamers who left the Tour to affix the Saudi-backed league.

"I believe we're serious about it," Rolapp mentioned when requested about gamers probably returning. "Hear, we're studying all the identical headlines you are studying, we do not know what is going on on over there [at LIV Golf]. We all know that these guys are below contract, we'll respect that.

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp addresses media members at a press convention previous to THE PLAYERS Championship at Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2026 in Ponte Vedra Seashore, Florida. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR by way of Getty Photos)

"Brooks [Koepka] came back onto the Tour as a result of he made a telephone name and mentioned, 'Look, I am out of my contract, I am prepared to return again.' So, we're serious about it, and we'll react when we now have a chance to react, however proper now we're centered on making the PGA Tour higher. I've mentioned it publicly, and I am going to say it once more, I am serious about making no matter makes the PGA Tour higher. That is what my job is, that is what I am serious about doing, and that has no restrict."

Koepka, a five-time main winner, returned to the PGA Tour at the beginning of 2026 after becoming a member of LIV Golf in June 2022. He did so by way of the Tour's 'Returning Member Program,' made solely accessible to earlier Tour members who've received The Gamers or a serious championship between 2022 and 2025.

Brooks Koepka of america reacts after chipping in for birdie on the seventeenth gap through the second spherical of the a hundred and twenty fifth U.S. Open at Oakmont Nation Membership on June 13, 2025, in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. (Patrick Smith/Getty Photos)

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Koepka agreed to make a $5 million charitable contribution upon his return to the Tour. He additionally agreed to incorporate a five-year forfeiture of potential fairness within the PGA Tour's Participant Fairness Program, which estimates his potential losses to be roughly $50-$85 million. Koepka will even not obtain any FedEx Cup bonus fee in 2026.

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Patrick Reed additionally left LIV Golf in early 2026 to hunt a return to the PGA Tour. The previous Masters champion is serving a one-year suspension that can finish in August and is effectively on his approach to incomes again his PGA Tour card for 2027 with a pair of wins earlier this yr on the DP World Tour.

Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Smith, and Rahm stay probably the most high-profile gamers competing on LIV Golf, and their return to the PGA Tour would undoubtedly match into Rolapp's focus of creating the PGA Tour higher.