The PGA Tour has no plans to fast-track the return of golfers who defected to LIV Golf, commissioner Brian Rolapp said on Tuesday, dashing hopes of a quick route back for stars including Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.
Rolapp's comments came in the wake of LIV Golf filing for bankruptcy, a move that has left several of its biggest names weighing their next steps. Rahm, Cameron Smith and DeChambeau all turned down a chance to rejoin the PGA Tour eight months ago, unlike Brooks Koepka, who left LIV for the PGA Tour in January under a special returning-member arrangement.
Rolapp made clear that deal will not be repeated. "In terms of where we are today, we are not currently contemplating a returning-member program like the one you saw in January," he said. "Everyone at the PGA Tour, myself included, has been focused on what is best for the organisation."
Unless his use of the word "currently" hints at a future change of course, LIV golfers now face a longer and less certain path back to the PGA Tour. Under the tour's existing rules, that would mean waiting at least 12 months since their last LIV start, with most players likely needing to requalify through the DP World Tour, the European-based circuit that runs alongside the PGA Tour and shares a strategic alliance with it.
Rahm weighs his options
As a DP World Tour member, Rahm is expected to pursue that route back, with LIV's bankruptcy potentially freeing him from the remaining years of his contract with the breakaway league. The two-time major champion is currently competing at the BMW Championship at Wentworth, where he said on Tuesday that clarity on his future may not come until November.
"Nothing's changed," Rahm said. "There's a long legal process they have to go through before a lot of things fall into place. I really can't give you an answer right now."
He added that his plans would likely stay unresolved until the end of the current season. "Hopefully I'll play good this week, and at the end of the year, whether we play in Abu Dhabi, Dubai or elsewhere, so until this current season is done in November, I really won't be able to give you an answer."
What comes next for LIV
LIV Golf's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing was logged in court earlier this month. The league is now working to launch a rebranded 2.0 version for 2027, having secured a provisional agreement for $300 million in backing from London-based investment firm BC Partners.
