Brooks Koepka left LIV Golf and returned to the PGA Tour, but three fellow stars aren’t following suit this year. The pathway that the Tour opened for Koepka was available to Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Cam Smith. They had until February 2 to decide, but none of them wasted any time.
They all declined to follow Koepka, reiterating their commitment to LIV Golf, at least while they remain under contract.
LIV Golf stars aren’t joining PGA Tour after Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka is the first player to have left LIV Golf and rejoined the PGA Tour. He’s set to make a start this month. When Koepka did reapply, the Tour decided to open things up for three of his leaguemates.
Per SI’s Bob Harig, “The Tour is calling this the ‘Returning Member Program’ (DeChambeau, Koepka, Smith, and Rahm) are the LIV Golf players who have won a major championship or a Players Championship since 2022. Only players who have won those tournaments and been away from the Tour for at least two years are eligible.”
But even with that pathway open, the trio of remaining golfers decided not to jump ship. “I’m contracted through 2026, so excited about this year,” DeChambeau said via CBS Sports. Jon Rahm echoed that sentiment.
“Yeah, I’m not planning on going anywhere, so very similar answer to what Bryson gave,” Rahm said. “I wish Brooks the best, and as far as I’m concerned, I’m focused on LIV for this year and hoping my team can repeat as champs.”
Smith said, “I made a decision to come here and I stand by it.” It remains to be seen what might happen in the future when their contracts conclude, or if they want to come back to the PGA Tour. This path was limited, and while the Tour would probably do something to get them back, there’s no telling how it will go.
There is also the pending merger agreement and the future of both the PGA Tour and LIV. We have no idea what golf will look like in a few years, and it remains to be seen whether these holdouts will face punishment when it’s all said and done. Nevertheless, they’re sticking to their guns for now.
Few surprises here
In most instances, this is not all that surprising. Bryson DeChambeau has often credited LIV Golf for helping turn his career around. He was a controversial figure on the PGA Tour, and joining LIV gave him a fresh start. He’s since remade his public image and is a beloved figure, something he probably couldn’t have done on the Tour.
Cam Smith has adopted the LIV mentality well since arriving. He’s become a character in those years, and he was particularly upset by how the media covered his decision to leave. It came right after his historic Major title, but all anyone cared about was his departure and not his victory.
Jon Rahm, however, is a bit interesting. He reportedly signed the biggest contract in LIV history when he defected, and he mentioned his contract in his statement. It could be that he’s just honoring the agreement for now.
There were rumors that Rahm was unhappy on LIV Golf for a long time. He struggled to acclimate, and he himself has said he does miss certain PGA events. He also had to fight hard to compete on the European Tour and qualify for the Ryder Cup, which only fueled those rumors more.
However, since he is now declining an opportunity to return and make everything with the Ryder Cup simpler, it stands to reason that those rumors were somewhat unfounded. At least right now, Rahm is happy with LIV Golf.
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