No country for sold men: PGA players not welcoming LIV defectors back warmly

There has been a low-grade war of words in the build-up to this week’s PGA Championship, the second men’s major of 2026, against the backdrop of the probable demise of LIV Golf, the Saudi disruptor.

Players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour at the height of the LIV recruitment splurge between 2021 and 2023, when the likes of Jon Rahm were paid more than $300-million to join, are clearly enjoying LIV’s implosion.

And they’re not rolling out the welcoming mat to players who are enquiring about a possible return to the PGA Tour.

PIF backtrack

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF), worth close to $1-trillion, will no longer fund LIV’s existence after 2026. At least it won’t fund its more than $100-million monthly bill in the same way, and there is no indication it will provide any funding in any form.

LIV recently set up a new board mandated to make the league profitable without the PIF’s financial backing.

Its stated aim is “securing long-term financial partners to support its transition from a foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model”.

The board will seek to monetise LIV’s team concept through traditional means such as selling equity stakes and sponsorships in its team concept.

How much appetite there is for buying a $200-million stake in a team called Cleeks GC, consisting of Victor Perez, Richard Bland, Adrian Meronk and Martin Kaymer, is debatable.

There are 12 other teams, and outside of South Africa’s Southern Guards, which has done well to attract support in its home country, and Australia’s Rippers GC, which has similarly tapped into an Aussie market, the teams are almost meaningless entities.

“The teams are not recognisable entities. The Crushers are the Crushers because of Bryson DeChambeau. When he’s not there, who the f–k wants the Crushers?” That was what one high-placed sports investor, told The Athletic earlier this month.

Speaking of DeChambeau, he is LIV’s highest-profile player and the among the only players, with the possible exception of Rahm in certain markets, who “move the needle”.

DeChambeau’s LIV contract expires at the end of the current season and there is no indication that he will re-sign, especially against the uncertainty of LIV’s future as a lucrative gig.

He has made the right noises about remaining loyal to LIV, but has also spoken about how the PGA Tour might provide a pathway back for LIV players.

Those players who defected to LIV had their PGA memberships withdrawn and as it stands now, would have to qualify to regain their Tour cards through traditional pathways such as the Korn Ferry or DP World Tours.

“Let’s be honest about the situation,” DeChambeau told ESPN earlier this month. “They’ve (the PGA Tour) got the media. They’ve got everybody on the side that helps pump it up. But they’re reducing field sizes, cutting employees and restructuring their business too.

“From my perspective, I’d love to grow my YouTube channel three times (he has 2.69 million followers), maybe even more.

“I would love to do a bunch of dubbing in different languages, giving the world more reason to watch YouTube. And then I’d love to play tournaments that want me.”

No country for sold men

Rory McIlroy, the current world No 2 who has been consistent in his disapproval of LIV Golf, was unimpressed with the noises coming from LIV’s contingent.

In a masterful display of passive-aggressive language, McIlroy made his feelings clear on LIV defectors returning and the nature of the league.

“I think I’ve said at the start, I was probably too judgemental with the guys that went (to LIV) because I was seeing it from my point of view and maybe not seeing it from other points of view,” McIlroy said after his second round at the Truist Championship last week.

“But again, I’m not going to judge anyone for not wanting to play on the PGA Tour.

“But if you want to be the most competitive golfer you can be, this is the place to be. And if you don’t want to play here, I think that says something about you.

“It’s a question if they do want to come back. Obviously, we have seen the quotes over the last few days,” McIlroy said.

“Again, it all depends on what happens to LIV. But if it is a scenario where they have the option to come back and play on the traditional tours, you know, I think Brian Rolapp (PGA Tour Commissioner) has said anything that makes this tour stronger, anything that makes the DP World Tour stronger, I think everyone should be open to that. That’s just good business practice.

“But again, I think there’s going to be a lot of bridges to cross to get there.

“LIV is going to go and try and find alternative investment, whatever that may look like. But when one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world thinks that you’re too expensive for them, that sort of says something.”

Various PGA players had their say on the matter in recent weeks and none of their utterings have been “welcome back”.

Earlier this year, Rolapp opened a small window of opportunity for a select group of LIV players to return to the PGA Tour. Only five-time major winner Brooks Koepka took it up.

“This is not a negotiation,” 2023 Open Champion Brian Harman said last week. “The players aren’t really involved in any disciplinary action. It’s not like we take a vote with what to do with certain players.

“I’m not sure any players were consulted for Brooks [Koepka’s] coming back, so I’m not sure why we would be consulted for anyone else. The disciplinary deal is up to the Tour to decide and to put that on the membership of the PGA Tour isn’t really fair.”

Veteran PGA player Billy Horschel was not impressed by DeChambeau’s sense that the PGA Tour needs him.

“Bryson is an uber-talented individual and someone who does care very much about the game of golf,” Horschel said.

“It doesn’t sit well with a lot of players when they see the comments that he could help the PGA Tour out and that the Tour isn’t doing well and we’re losing tournaments.

I think a lot of players – the majority of players – that doesn’t sit well with them. It doesn’t sit well with me.”

PGA Championship

DeChambeau is one of 11 LIV players in the field for this week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink GC in Philadelphia.

The last time a major was played at the course was the 1962 PGA Championship, won by South Africa’s Gary Player.

This week, world No 1 Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion and the man to beat, especially since the course features 12 par-fours. Scheffler is the Tour’s scoring leader on par fours this year.

The course has 180 bunkers and large greens, demanding a hot putter.

Rahm will be eager for another shot at the PGA Championship after walking away empty handed last year when he held a share of the back-nine lead during the final round before a stunning collapse.

Rahm dropped five shots at Quail Hollow in 2025 over his final three holes to slide back into a share of eighth place.

“A tough pill to swallow right now,” Rahm said after the final round a year ago.

DeChambeau, who missed the cut at the Masters in April following a pair of LIV Golf triumphs, has finished runner-up at the PGA Championship in each of the past two years. He held the lead late in the third round last year before a late stumble.

Another player to watch is the US’s Cameron Young, the reigning Players Championship winner who played with McIlroy in the final pairing at the Masters.

Young, who enjoyed a dominant wire-to-wire victory at Trump National Doral a week ago, enjoyed his best PGA Championship finish in 2022 when he earned a share of third place en route to collecting PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honours.

Among the other golfers in the field, Jordan Spieth can complete the career Grand Slam of golf's four majors with a win this week, which would put him in a club that consists of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and McIlroy. DM

Additional reporting by Reuters