Reports emerged earlier this week that one of the obstacles in the negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund involves the idea of LIV Golf members—specifically, Jon Rahm and his supposed $300 million signing bonus—returning the money received from their LIV contracts.
That’s not the problem, multiple sources familiar with the talks have told Golf Digest. The real crux is much simpler … and much more complicated. As a preface, yes, there is a set of PGA Tour players who would like LIV defectors to inject their financial windfalls into a theoretical unified ecosystem. Or hope that this prerequisite keeps LIV players from returning altogether.
However, no one involved in the talks with PIF officials seriously believes that will be an option. Enforcing signing bonus clawbacks is legally dubious, to put it mildly, and ultimately the goal is to bring the game back together. It’s also worth remembering that players have mostly been sidelined in these negotiations, so even if the returned money was a want, well, it’s not their call.
As for Rahm’s part in this, it’s no secret that those within the tour view Rahm’s defection as detrimental to the peace accords (although LIV folks will counter it was the tour that broke the detente first by courting private-equity investment), which is why Rahm’s name has likely been leaked in reference to the above reports.
There are real issues to be hammered out between the PGA Tour and PIF coming together, and the first deals with re-assimilation of LIV members to the PGA and DP World tours. It’s not as easy as just letting everyone back. For starters, many LIV players already had tenuous PGA Tour status as is, and that status they did have has run out. Other players—most notably Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen—resigned their memberships when leaving for the Saudi circuit.
Hard feelings remain towards the 11 players who sued the PGA Tour, a lawsuit that (according to tour leadership) put the league in a vulnerable financial position that ultimately spurred the framework agreement with PIF. Those 11 are Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Ian Poulter, Pat Perez, Jason Kokrak, Peter Uihlein and Matt Jones. A majority of tour players had no personal qualms with players chasing Saudi money; why these defectors had to legally hurt their former employer (and employees) is a different matter. A number of individuals on the tour side want separate penalties and conditions for these LIV members.
Yet separate enforcement could cause more legal issues, sources familiar with the matter have told Golf Digest. Same goes for withholding FedEx Cup prize money or leaving players out of the new equity program. Even a proposal that would put LIV players back in Q School to regain their cards is problematic, as there’s the very real chance some LIVers pass on the opportunity and go elsewhere, which—optically speaking—could be bad for the tour.
Specifically, with one player: DeChambeau. Which brings us to perhaps the main question from the tour’s side, which is: Who do they exactly want or need, back? In some corners, the answer is only three:
•Rahm, undoubtedly a top-five player in the game.
•Brooks Koepka, someone who remains in good standing with tour players, and whose major performances threaten to keep LIV relevant during the sport’s four biggest weeks of the year.
•DeChambeau. It’s no secret that, prior to his 2022 departure, DeChambeau was a headache for tour officials behind the scenes. But in the ensuing seasons DeChambeau has gone from a divisive figure into one of the game’s most popular entities, and he’s coming off a season where he captured his second U.S. Open title and finished runner-up at the PGA Championship. The case can be made that DeChambeau is LIV’s best asset.
The appetite for other LIV returns varies. Dustin Johnson is another player who continues to be held in high regard by tour players, although there is some thought Johnson may retire after his LIV deal is over. Cam Smith won the Players and Open Championship two years ago, yet doesn’t hold the global appeal of DeChambeau or Rahm. Joaquin Niemann’s game has had flashes of brilliance, yet his constant complaints about the perceived treatment of LIV players have worn thin at tour headquarters, sources tell Golf Digest. After that, most of LIV’s membership is composed of those who are past their primes or were rank-and-file players. That includes Mickelson, who—given his role in golf’s civil war—most tour leadership would be OK never seeing again.
What will likely happen will be multiple avenues for players to return, sources say. That could include exemptions for major winners and the top-three finishers of LIV’s individual standings (Rahm, Niemann, Garcia this year). Others may get opportunities at the DP World and Korn Ferry tour levels, with Monday qualifying to be open as well. Q School entrance remains up for debate, specifically if players should get a pass from any stages of qualifying. As previously noted, there’s also the chance they don’t want to return, bringing up the second issue: LIV’s future. Getting a PIF-PGA Tour deal past government regulators is not an elementary task; there’s a reason Rory McIlroy stated the “Department of Justice” when asked what’s holding up a potential agreement. Conversely, many of those involved in these negotiations are lawyers and firms that specialize in mergers and antitrust law.
Despite how haphazard and freewheeling the past three years have been in professional golf, this is one point that cannot be made up on the fly. And one of the needs for a deal to get done, sources say, is to have a competitor to the PGA Tour exist in some fashion. That means LIV will likely live on, although likely not in the same form or capacity as its current construction. A team element is expected to persist, and though the focus is on bringing LIV players back to the tour, some element of allowing PGA and DP World tour players to go back and forth is also envisioned, sources tell Golf Digest.
One consistent rumour is that LIV would take over the fall portion of the golf calendar. For the moment, sources say, that is not the plan, as LIV would likely be a year-round circuit. Perhaps most importantly, progress is being made on talks. Sources would not put a timetable on a potential agreement being reached, only pointing to the NFL’s recent approval of private-equity funding helped revive talks after a dormant period. LIV Golf and its return are also just a part of the conversation, as the newly formed PGA Tour Enterprises has future efforts and acquisitions in mind that would only be possible thanks to PIF financial infusion.
Like everything since the schism began, much remains up in the air about the state of professional golf and nothing is certain. But, at least for now, progress is being made towards unification.
Main Image: PETER PARKS
