Rory McIlroy has warned LIV Golf players considering a return to the PGA Tour: the door may eventually open, but walking back through it could come at a high cost.
The future of LIV Golf has become increasingly uncertain after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund confirmed it would not continue funding the circuit beyond 2026. The league has also canceled its season-ending Team Championship in Michigan. However, LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil has said the organization is working on its “next chapter” and has an unnamed lead investor lined up.
That uncertainty has inevitably raised questions about what happens to LIV’s biggest names if they decide they want to return to the PGA Tour.
Brooks Koepka already made that move through the PGA Tour’s returning member program in February, while Patrick Reed is eligible to return in September. Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau have also been linked with possible PGA Tour returns.
McIlroy Says the Best PGA Deal May Already Be Gone
McIlroy, however, does not expect future returnees to receive the same terms Koepka did.
“I would argue, have they brought value to LIV?” McIlroy said ahead of the BMW Championship. “I think the PGA Tour’s in a really good spot.”
McIlroy believes LIV players will eventually be allowed back, but he expects conditions to be considerably less favorable for anyone who waited.
“Eventually they will [be welcomed back],” he said. “I’m not part of these discussions, but I’m pretty sure they’re not going to be welcomed back straight away.”
He pointed directly to the returning member program used by Koepka, noting that the opportunity was available earlier in the year.
“If they were offered this returning member program back in February, the one that Brooks took, then yeah, maybe, but that has come and gone,” McIlroy said.
“I think it was said at the time that the deal that they might get going forward, if they do decide to come back, isn’t going to be as good as the one that Brooks got. I would say it’s going to be a tough road back.”
McIlroy has been one of LIV Golf’s most prominent critics since the breakaway league emerged, and his position on the competition itself remains unchanged.
“I think I feel like I’ve kept my position consistent that LIV has never been a good thing for the game,” he said.
McIlroy Takes Another Shot at LIV’s $6 Billion Spending.
Even with LIV discussing a possible new structure for 2027, including five marquee Team Championships across five continents and five team Signature Events positioned around the majors, McIlroy still views the PGA Tour as the primary destination for elite professional golf.
“This is the best platform for the top professional golfers in the world,” he said.
McIlroy did acknowledge that the PGA Tour could have handled some of the original disputes differently. He specifically referenced Phil Mickelson’s dissatisfaction before LIV’s launch and suggested there may have been an opportunity to resolve some of those problems through discussion.
“Were there some things at the start of LIV that the PGA Tour could have done better? Sure,” McIlroy said. “You think back to the start with, say, Phil [Mickelson] unhappy with some stuff or whatever it was. Surely that just warranted a conversation instead of blowing the entire professional game up and doing something else?”
McIlroy also said he takes no pleasure in the employment consequences surrounding LIV’s uncertain future, but he offered a cutting assessment of the billions spent building the rival league.
“I don’t take any personal satisfaction in people losing jobs; that doesn’t seem right,” he said. “I’ve always felt like this is the best place to play professional golf. I’m pretty sure if the PGA Tour were handed $6bn it would have done a better job with it.”
Scheffler Says Returning LIV Players Should Face Penalties
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler took a somewhat different approach to the question of LIV players returning. Scheffler acknowledged that the league includes several players capable of competing at the highest level, but he also believes a return should come with consequences.
“When we talk about the best players [in the world], LIV has a few players that are really good,” Scheffler said. “I think the depth that we have on our tour is a bit unmatched.”
Scheffler said some LIV players would bring genuine competitive value to the PGA Tour and admitted he would like another opportunity to face them regularly.
But he does not support an immediate return without penalties.
“I think going forward there obviously has to be some sort of penalties,” Scheffler said. “What those are, I’ll let PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp and all those guys figure it out.”
That leaves a complicated question hanging over players such as Rahm and DeChambeau as LIV attempts to secure its future beyond 2026.
The PGA Tour has already demonstrated through Koepka that a route back can exist. McIlroy’s warning is that the most attractive version of that route may already have disappeared. For LIV players now considering their options, returning may still be possible, just not on the terms they might have received months earlier.
