LIV Golf League captains Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Jon Rahm said Tuesday that they’re not planning to follow Brooks Koepka back to the PGA Tour.
Speaking to reporters at a LIV preseason news conference in Palm Beach, Florida, DeChambeau, Smith and Rahm said they plan to remain with the Saudi Arabian-financed breakaway circuit this season.
“I had no idea, no idea that that would happen,” DeChambeau, who is in the final year of his LIV Golf contract, said of Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour. “No idea what the penalties would even be. Right now, I’ve got a contract. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do at LIV Golf this year.”
Rahm, who was the last high-profile golfer to join LIV Golf, doing so in December 2023, is believed to have at least two years left on his contract.
“I’m not planning on going anywhere,” he said. “[A] very similar answer to what Bryson gave. I wish Brooks the best. As far as I’m concerned, I’m focused on the league and my team this year, and hopefully we can repeat as champions again.”
Those three LIV golfers are eligible to return to the PGA Tour under a new Returning Member Program, which is open to those who have been away from the PGA Tour for at least two years — and who have won the Players Championship or one of the four majors (the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship) since 2022. If they did return, it would be under certain conditions and with severe financial penalties.
DeChambeau won the 2024 U.S. Open; Rahm captured the 2023 Masters; and Smith collected the Players Championship and Open Championship in 2022.
“I made a decision to come out here and spend more time at home, and I’m not giving that away,” Smith told reporters. “I’ll be on LIV for years to come.”
The LIV golfers eligible to return have until Feb. 2 to decide whether to do so.
“The criteria itself would obviously be enough for us to know who it is,” Rahm said. “But yeah, I wasn’t surprised at all. There’s been quite a few rumors I’ve heard about for a while. Not really surprised at all by the news yesterday.”
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp described the pathway back as a “one-time, defined window” and “not a precedent for future situations.”
“Once the door closes, there is no promise that this path will be available again,” Rolapp wrote in a memo to PGA Tour members Monday.
The LIV Golf League season tees off Feb. 4-7 at Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia.
Koepka, a five-time major champion, paid a steep price to return to the PGA Tour. In addition to making a $5 million contribution to charity at the tour’s request, he agreed to forfeit any player equity shares for the next five years. He also won’t be eligible to receive any money from the $100 million FedEx Cup bonus program in 2026.
In the memo, Rolapp said that Koepka is eligible for the Players Championship and other full-field events but that he’ll have to earn his way into the eight signature events this season by winning a tournament or qualifying through one of three pathways. He is not eligible to receive sponsor exemptions available for $20 million signature events.
Koepka, the first five-time winner in LIV Golf, is the first high-profile golfer to return to the PGA Tour.
“I think we’re all friends,” LIV Golf captain Phil Mickelson said. “I consider Brooks a friend, and whatever he thinks is best for [him] and his family, I fully support.”
The last of Mickelson’s six major championship titles came at the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, South Carolina, where he became the oldest major winner. Mickelson, who helped recruit many golfers to LIV Golf before its launch in June 2022, is therefore ineligible to return to the PGA Tour under the Returning Member Program.
“I’m having so much fun out here,” Mickelson said. “I love playing out here on LIV. I love being with the guys.”
