LIV Golfers Being Offered An Inconsequential Path Back To The PGA Tour Would Make Zero Sense | Mark Harris

Jon Rahm joining LIV Golf has strengthened the Saudi-backed circuit, weakened the PGA Tour, and further divided this version professional golf currently finds itself in. Those who refuse to accept that refuse to accept reality. What's become clearer since the day in December when Rahm announced his decision to join the breakaway league is that his move has put the state of the game into an entirely different, far more intense perspective.

If you look past LIV's ties to Saudi Arabia, its non-traditional format, and poor ratings, and simply focus on the crop of world-class players, it is impossible to say LIV isn't gaining ground on the PGA Tour from a pure talent and entertainment standpoint. The devout PGA Tour fans won't admit it and those carrying water for LIV will say the league's top talent has already surpassed the Tour's, but for the unbiased, the two sides have never been more equal.

Those on the outside looking in aren't the only ones who have noticed this. Players on both sides have become more aware of this new reality as well. The fact that the questions about LIV players being allowed to play in certain PGA Tour events have intensified since Rahm's departure represents everyone paying closer attention to the more-than-ever equal world of golf.

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The question about defectors being offered a patch back onto the PGA Tour has been up for debate since LIV's inception in June 2022. For a moment, it was moved down the list of questions routinely asked to PGA Tour players, but since Rahm's departure, it's been moved back up toward the top of the list.

It should come as no surprise that players have different opinions on this. 

A Tour Divided On Welcoming Back Old Friends

In the early stages of LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy stated that players who "left the PGA Tour irreparably harmed" it and should face "consequences" for their actions. Last month, after his Ryder Cup teammate Jon Rahm had departed, he changed his tune.

"Guys made choices to go and play LIV; guys made choices to stay here. If people still have eligibility on this tour and they want to come back and play or you want to try and do something, let them come back. I mean, I think it's hard to punish people."I don't think there should be a punishment," McIlroy stated.

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Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, who are among the most influential American players, aren't on board with McIlroy's idea that LIV players should be welcomed back with open arms.

"I would say that there’s a handful of players on LIV that would make the [PGA] Tour a better place, but I’m definitely not in the agreement that they should just be able to come back that easily," Thomas said ahead of the WM Phoenix Open.

"I would have a hard time with it, and I think a lot of guys would have a hard time with it, and I'm sure we don't need to convince you why we would have a hard time with it," Thomas continued.

Thomas' sentiment echoed Fowler's from a few days prior.

"As far as decisions to go elsewhere and just welcome back, I don’t think it’s a direct road," FowIer said at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. "They made decisions — there has to be something for it. Whether how small or big, that’s not up to me."

LIV Golfers Returning To The PGA Tour Is Complicated, And It Should Be

There is only one way to look at this hypothetical of LIV players returning to the Tour without consequence, and it's certainly not from McIlroy's perspective.

Something that seems to have oddly been lost amid LIV continuing to sign players is that it is still very much the PGA Tour's rival. In fact, LIV is the PGA Tour's only rival.

LIV's one and only goal is to become the premier golf circuit in the world, and in order to accomplish that, it has to overtake the PGA Tour. 

(Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

To use McIlroy's own words, "guys made choices to go and play LIV," and part of their decision to do so includes playing a role in trying to destroy the PGA Tour. 

LIV golfers are doing nothing but hurting the PGA Tour, there isn't a scenario where welcoming those players back with no consequences or penalties makes sense.

LIV players should not be given the opportunity to have their cake and eat it too. Players can't fight under the LIV flag, pocket millions along the way, and then decide to re-join the PGA Tour's side just because they feel like it. After just one start with LIV, Rahm has already explained that he hopes to play in PGA Tour events again soon. 

A Coming Together, But With Consequences

More often than not, two things can be true at once, and that's the case in this situation.

Everyone in golf - the players, the fans, media members, TV networks, tournament organizers, etc. - all want the same thing and that is, the best players in the world playing against one another as often as possible.

If that scenario were to present itself on the PGA Tour, then so be it, but that shouldn't imply players who left for LIV should be welcomed back as if nothing happened.

There is no telling what this messed up world of professional golf will look like one hour from now, let alone one year from now, but one potential pathway for LIV players to potentially return to the Tour with an asterisk may soon be available.

The PGA Tour's recently struck deal with Strategic Sports Group to form new for-profit entity PGA Tour Enterprises allows Tour players an opportunity to acquire equity. LIV defectors who return to the Tour being barred from that opportunity, at least at some capacity, could be a start.