PGA TOUR CEO Brian Rolapp has revealed the U.S. circuit is “thinking about” creating new pathways for LIV Golf players to rejoin the PGA TOUR as speculation continues to circulate regarding the future of the breakaway league.
Rumors regarding the league’s future intensified last week following a report from The Financial Times claiming that Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), worth around $925bn, was “on the verge of cutting its support for LIV Golf”.
The fund also announced a new five-year investment strategy focusing on “sustained value creation” and “efficiency of investments” which did not include any mention of LIV Golf.
Speaking on an episode of the popular sports show The Pat McAfee Show, Rolapp said the PGA TOUR was considering formal pathways but stressed the importance of respecting existing player contracts.
“We’re thinking about it,” Rolapp said. “We’re reading all the same headlines you’re reading. We don’t know what’s going on over there. We know those guys are under contract and we’ll respect that.”
Rolapp cited Brooks Koekpa who was the first player to officially make a comeback to the PGA TOUR this year under the Returning Member Program that was introduced by the circuit. The program only applied to those who had won a major or THE PLAYERS Championship in the last four years.
“Brooks [Koepka] came back onto the Tour because he made a phone call and said: ‘I’m out of my contract and I’m ready to come back’.
“So, we’re thinking about it. We’ll react when we have an opportunity to react, but right now we’re focused on making the PGA TOUR better.
“I’ve said it publicly, and I’ll say it again: I’m interested in whatever makes the PGA Tour better. That’s what my job is. That’s what I’m interested in doing, and that has no limits.”
Patrick Reed, another LIV Golf defector, will not be eligible to compete on the PGA TOUR until August and is currently battling it out to reclaim his PGA TOUR card through the DP World Tour.
In an interview with TNT Sports on Friday, Scott O’Neil, LIV Golf CEO, spoke on the league’s status following rising uncertainty but played down fears of any collapse.
“The reality is you’re funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going,” O’Neil said. “But that’s not different than any other private equity business in the history of mankind.”