PGA Tour Star Jason Day Reveals The One Reason That LIV Golf Turned Him Down

Now that we've witnessed three seasons of LIV Golf, it's just assumed at this point that the Saudi-backed circuit has made an offer to every well-known professional golfer to join the league. Jason Day, a former major champion, certainly falls under that ‘well-known’ player criteria, but the Aussie has explained that LIV actually turned him down.

In the months leading up to LIV's inaugural event in June 2022, Day was heavily rumored to be the next player to leave the PGA Tour for the breakaway circuit. While he did admit that he inquired about a move to LIV, the league quickly told him that they weren't interested in signing him.

"I didn’t knock [an offer] back," Day told Code Sports Australia. "What happened was, it was a business move to just go in and explore the potential of what would happen."

"I said [to my agent], ‘No worries, I’m happy with where I’m at, but it’s always nice to know.’ And they [LIV Golf] said, ‘We love Jason, but he’s too injured; he just gets too many injuries.’

Day didn't take LIV's comments as an insult, but instead told the outlet "I don't blame them."

"I’m so thankful and so happy that I stayed on the PGA Tour," Day added. "I just feel that the tour was a perfect spot for me."

The 36-year-old has battled a handful of injuries over the years and has had to fight bouts of vertigo as well, most notably at the Masters and the U.S. Open years ago.

Injuries aside, it's interesting that LIV would have passed up on adding Day to its roster in the very early days of the circuit. One would have imagined that LIV would have done just about anything to get a 13-time PGA Tour winner and former PGA Championship winner to join forces, especially given he was only 34 at the time, but the Saudis clearly couldn't get past his injury history.

With LIV only having 54-player fields plus relying heavily on the team aspect, each and every spot is valuable, and Day having to potentially take time away from the game could have caused chaos. There are, of course, plenty of players who LIV did eventually sign with laundry lists of injuries, but based on Day's comments, the circuit saw him as a risk.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.