There are currently no plans for a route allowing LIV Golf players to return to the US-based PGA Tour, Commissioner Brian Rolapp stated on Tuesday, ruling out a mechanism similar to the one that enabled Brooks Koepka to rejoin earlier this year.
Speaking to journalists during a virtual media call one week after LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, Rolapp insisted that discipline and accountability are vital components for any sporting league and remain core guiding principles for the PGA Tour.
“In terms of where we are today, we are not currently contemplating a returning-member programme like the one you saw in January,” Rolapp said on the call, which was called to outline details regarding a two-tiered system set to launch in 2028.
“Everyone at the PGA Tour, myself included, has been focused on what is best for the organisation.”
The bankruptcy filing from LIV Golf has left the competitive future of several prominent names on the breakaway circuit in doubt. Major champions Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, two of the game’s most high-profile players, were listed among the leading unsecured creditors, with each owed in excess of $5 million.
Koepka, a five-time major champion, took advantage of a limited-time returning member scheme in January to re-enter the PGA Tour after severing ties with LIV Golf last December.
However, the former world number one’s return carried a hefty price tag, leaving him facing a five-year forfeiture of potential equity within the PGA Tour’s Player Equity Program – an estimated loss of between $50 million and $85 million, depending on tour expansion and his own performance.
LIV has been preparing for its next phase ever since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund stated in April that further investment in the rebel circuit no longer aligned with its overarching strategy and that funding would be halted at the end of the 2026 season.
PIF maintains 100 per cent ownership of LIV Golf’s equity, according to the bankruptcy petition.
LIV hopes to complete its exit from bankruptcy by early 2027 as it aims to finalise a new investment deal in the coming weeks.
