By Frank Pingue
Sept 15 (Reuters) – The PGA Tour is not considering a returning member program that would allow players from LIV Golf to come back to the U.S.-based circuit like Brooks Koepka did earlier this year, Commissioner Brian Rolapp said on Tuesday.
Rolapp, speaking to reporters on a virtual media call one week after LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, said accountability and discipline are essential elements for any sports league and remain guiding principles for the PGA Tour.
“In terms of where we are today, we are not currently contemplating a returning-member program like the oneyou saw in January,” Rolapp said on a call to discuss details of the Tour’s two-tiered system set for launch in 2028.
“Everyone at the PGA Tour, myself included, has been focused on what is best for the organization.”
LIV’s bankruptcy filing has left the playing futures of some of the breakaway circuit’s biggest names in doubt. Major champions Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, two of the sport’s more popular players, were listed as the top unsecured creditors with each owed more than $5 million.
Five-times major champion Koepka took advantage of a limited-time returning member program in January to rejoin the PGA Tour after leaving LIV Golf last December.
Koepka’s return came at a cost, with the former world number one facing a five-year forfeiture of potential equity in the PGA Tour’s Player Equity Program, representing an estimated $50-85 million loss depending on his performance and tour growth.
LIV has been preparing for its next iteration ever since the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia said in April that further investment in the rebel circuit no longer aligned with its strategy and that it would cut funding at the close of the 2026 season. PIF owns 100% of LIV Golf’s equity, according to its bankruptcy petition.
LIV hopes to exit from bankruptcy by early 2027.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto)
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