The First Call Inbox

Charting a path back to the PGA Tour

Readers of The First Call are in agreement that LIV Golf players should be allowed back on Tour. What that process looks like, though, is wide-ranging.

Question of the week [April 20-26]: How should the PGA Tour accept players back if LIV Golf shutters?

The First Call Inbox archives | View

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I would have them pay a substantial fine and distribute the money to every PGA Tour member. Then I would have them qualify by playing in the Korn Ferry Tour to earn their card. They also would not be able to use sponsor exemptions.

Kevin Blackburn
Hamlin, New York 
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With qualifying events. Mini-tour?

Timothy John Niles
Cary, North Carolina
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Pay a hefty fine and forego benefits. Maybe miss out on the lucrative events for a period of time.

Ken Foley
Fairview, Texas
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Similar to how they treated Brooks Koepka. It’s no good for the game of golf to take vengeance against players for their LIV Golf ventures. Many on the PGA Tour benefitted from the competition — the increased prize money is proof. But there should be some probation like Koepka is on to offset their personal financial gains at LIV. All in all, the faster a reunification happens, the better.

James Dickey
Andover, Minnesota
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A one year wait following an application process. Qualify for the PGA Tour via second-tier tours (Korn Ferry). No tour equity for five years and then begin at lowest level with ability to grow equity. Start with no world ranking points, build ranking via play beginning with reinstatement.

Dwight Hendrickson
Tucson, Arizona
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To be fair, they should be penalized the same way as Brooks Koepka was penalized.

Robert Floresca Sr.
Wilmington, North Carolina
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They should have to sit out two seasons for leaving the PGA Tour. They made enough money for them to sit out and wait before being allowed back in.

Joseph Michael Bernabe
Rockaway, New Jersey
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Re-qualification and paybacks are in order, but do they need to reinvent the latest arrangements? Many of the top players will re-instate ASAP, but the lesser players may not and they may have to return to the DP World Tour or Korn Ferry Tour or just retire. Hopefully, they invested wisely. Many of the current PGA Tour players may welcome the top players, like Brooks Koepka, back because of the eyeballs/ad dollars effect on purses, but they recognize there must be a process for the reintegration. Make it relative to what Brooks and Patrick Reed agreed to, and for those who don't like it, go prove why you belong…

Pete Croppo
Bayfield, Ontario
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Nothing is gained by not welcoming them back.

Keith Maresca
Pinehurst, North Carolina
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Only after they first pay their way back in. Then they should have to qualify to get in. They left on their own volition and there’s no reason to simply open the door and say “Come on back fellas.”

Paul Heanue
Plymouth, Massachusetts 
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Make the players go to qualifying events before getting an invite back to the PGA Tour. Like at-large invites.

Paul R. Sienas
Chicago, Illinois
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They should have absolutely no status on the PGA Tour other than what their world ranking would provide.

Tom Bookmiller
Lake Wylie, South Carolina 
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I feel that they should be able to come back right away. Major winners should be able to pick up where they left off, maybe they pay a fine of some sort or deal with a probation. But, everyone else should be allowed to come back ASAP. Let’s put all of this behind us. Or, at least try.

Sean Toohey 
River Forest, Illinois
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A 20% penalty on their initial signing amount with LIV.

Thomas McNutt
Spartanburg, South Carolina
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Two ways have been established — how they handled Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed. Carving out player by player methods should not be considered.

Jim Pomeranz
Cary, North Carolina
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Fine them 10% of their LIV Golf earnings, no equity earnings for five years and make them compete at Q-School for a spot on Tour. Many of them will not be able to compete if they return.

Richard Garrison
Port Saint Lucie, Florida
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The same as Brooks Koepka, but have them be exempt from the FedEx Cup for one year.

David Meszaros
Pinehurst, North Carolina
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A one-year suspension.

Steve Gallacher
Phoenix, Arizona
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Depends on who it is. There should be a board decision on each individual case, based according to their record and can they move the needle for the PGA Tour.

Jerry Coleman 
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
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Who cares?

Jon Rahm thinks he is bigger than the game. Here is a guy who was supposedly committed to the PGA Tour one day, but then was off to LIV the next. Sounds like Sergio Garcia reincarnated. Let him go play somewhere else.

But, he is fighting with the DP World Tour as well.

Shocker there.

Bryson DeChambeau only cares about how many YouTube followers he gets. Not sure he truly understands what the PGA Tour is all about. Let him go compete for the long drive championship.

The rest should wait for the Korn Ferry or PGA Tour Champions if they will take them. They all took the money and ran. I really don’t understand why Brooks Koepka was given a free pass.

To allow them to come back and compete at this point is a slap in the face to the folks who were loyal. really don’t believe that they should share in any of the appreciation in value of the Tour because they really had nothing to do with it.

Steve Nardi 
Ocean View, Delaware. 
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By massive fines that re-capture the money they got by going to LIV.

Ross Ruddick
Surrey, British Columbia
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Any major winner should have to give a large donation to the charity of their choice and sit out one year. Any other player coming back should go to the Korn Ferry Tour and qualify for the big tour. They too should have to make a healthy donation to a charity.

Lawrence Beitel
Ocala, Florida
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They should have to earn their way back through the Korn Ferry Tour. Just think of what that would do for attendance at Korn Ferry events.

Stephen Euler
Wilmington, North Carolina
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Pay a fine of at least half of each player’s LIV signing bonus.

Charlie Rowton
Katy, Texas
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I think they should pay a fee to reenter the PGA Tour. Money should be a certain percentage of their contract from LIV. Also, a three-month wait time before being accepted.

Rick Klein
Bolivia, North Carolina
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There will have to be some strata for those returning. Similar to how Brooks Koepka jumped back in — with significant financial penalties— having won recent majors, versus Patrick Reed, who had not won any major in that time frame.

Many will likely step off the LIV train(wreck) to the European Tour (a la Patrick Reed) where they should have the opportunity to build their portfolio for landing back to the PGA Tour ranks, and others are going to get stuck between obtaining status on the Korn Ferry or having to Monday qualify for those events.

There are only a few (Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, etc.) who will take the financial hit like Brooks and be given the soiled red carpet treatment back to the PGA Tour.

Chris Conway
Livermore, California
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The First Call invites reader comment. Write to editor Stuart Hall at shall@buffalogroupe.com. If your comment is selected for publication, we will not publish your email address. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and brevity.

Front: LIV Golf players at the 2025 LIV Riyadh.
Photo: Montana Pritchard / LIV Golf


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