The road for LIV Golf players to return remains under construction

The end of LIV Golf is to be sorted out in a New Jersey bankruptcy court with the next hearing in just over two weeks. The future of LIV players could be even more complex, with so much to be determined 900 miles away at PGA Tour headquarters in Florida.

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp previously scheduled a virtual news conference Nov. 17, the day after a board meeting. The topic is to be more details of the new competitive model for 2028, not how, when or why to bring back players from LIV.

So how long Jon Rahm's only option is the European tour or what becomes of Bryson DeChambeau are topics not likely to be discussed, much less decided.

Rolapp is big on meritocracy, and Adam Scott offered thoughts along those lines in Abu Dhabi.

“I think the fairest thing is that they all re-establish themselves in the system they want to go to,” he said in an interview with Today's Golfer. “They left and gave up those privileges. I think they should re-qualify themselves, ideally. That's how I would see it. That seems logical and sensible.”

Rolapp has not been willing to discuss the return of LIV players until they are relieved of their contracts. LIV said Wednesday in a bankruptcy hearing it would not go forward with a new version and instead begin the process of shuttering operations.

The same day, the judge approved Rahm's separation from LIV Golf. He's officially free and clear .

“I have yet to have a discussion with the PGA Tour to see if there’s any path back for next year,” Rahm said this week in Abu Dhabi, where he shares the 36-hole lead. Free, indeed.

The last public comments from DeChambeau came in a “Figuring Out” podcast released on Halloween in which the two-time U.S. Open champion remained bullish on LIV 2.0. “It’s going to be done right and this is going to be a league that exists hopefully forever,” he said.

Rahm and DeChambeau are the two biggest names. Often overlooked is Dustin Johnson, a former world No. 1 and two-time major champion and the one guy PGA Tour players said they missed. His manager, David Winkle at Hambric Sports, said Friday the 42-year-old Johnson has been testing equipment and is “hungry to play against the best competition available to him.”

Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, a four-time Ryder Cup player, have status on the European tour. DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, who won the British Open at St. Andrews in 2022, also have access to membership as major champions in the last five years.

They must decide in the next 10 days. For so many others, it's a waiting game.

The tour currently has a one-year ban from a player's last LIV appearance, so that would be lifted on Aug. 24, 2027, assuming there are no other disciplinary matters. That could include being part of the group that sued the tour.

Where it gets complicated is the move to the new model in 2028. The categories for the Championship Series and the lower Challenger Series no longer include past champions — LIV had 28 players who have won on the PGA Tour.

There is a one-time exemption for top 50 in career money. Charles Howell III is currently at No. 42 with some breathing room. But to use that exemption requires 15 starts in 2027, and Howell won’t be eligible next year.

There also is no mention of life members for 20 career wins — Johnson achieved that before going to LIV.

And while Rolapp has noted he wasn't around when players bolted from the PGA Tour to take the Saudi riches, he still reports to a wide membership, many of whom want to see defectors punished.

“There are 225 guys with tour cards,” Xander Schauffele said. “And if you sat down and interviewed all of them, you’re going to get probably three or four boxes of how guys feel. Some guys don’t care, some guys are really ticked off, some guys want them to have a huge fine, some guys would let them back tomorrow.”

Hatton and Victor Perez have status in Europe from having won elite Rolex Series events. Adrian Meronk and Laurie Canter have status from winning tournaments with at least a $2 million prize fund, and lower down the priority list are David Puig and Elvis Smylie, who won tournaments with small purses.

The top 40 in career money, another category, is where to find the likes of Louis Oosthuizen, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer and Paul Casey.

The European tour is making available sponsor exemptions to LIV players in run-of-the-mill events that wouldn’t squeeze out loyal members.

With two tournaments left in the season, three former LIV players are in position to be among the leading 10 players in the Race to Dubai who get PGA Tour cards — Eugenio Chacarra, Patrick Reed and Bernd Wiesberger.

That seems like the prudent path — right now. Still to be determined is the outcome of a new PGA Tour alliance with the European tour that created that program. Early indications are there won't be that many cards offered for 2028.

See AP’s full golf coverage here