President Donald Trump has supported the reintroduction of LIV golfers to the PGA Tour after the league announced the suspension of funding from the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
The PGA Tour is currently hosting the Cadillac Championship at President Trump’s Doral Golf Course, and LIV Golf is scheduled to play at Trump’s Potomac Course in two weeks.
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Highlights from the first round of the Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in Miami.
Asked if the PGA Tour should welcome LIV defectors with open arms, Trump said: “I agree.
“I believe all great golfers should play against each other.
“I want to see Rory[McIlroy]play Bryson DeChambeau. I want to see Big Jon Rahm play Scotty[Scheffler].
“They have great players in LIV, but people seem to want to see that. That’s why the Masters was so good because you saw everyone together.”
“The tour wants the best players. You can’t get the best players if they’re boycotting.”
What do PGA Tour players think about the return of LIV golfers?
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Kaveh Solhekol explains why Saudi Arabia’s funding will be cut from LIV Golf and where this leaves Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and others.
Play began at the Cadillac Championship around the same time that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced it would end funding for LIV Golf at the end of the 2026 season.
Former world No. 1 Jordan Spieth was asked after the opening round about the process that could occur if more LIV players wanted to return to the PGA Tour.
“I don’t know if it should be the same for everyone. I know an olive branch was handed out a few months ago, but Mr. Brooks took it away, so I don’t know what will change now,” Spieth said.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean LIV won’t continue moving forward. I think there are too many unknowns to make a good judgment about what’s going to happen there.
“But if you have a system for Brooks and a system for Patrick Reed, does it stay the same for the same category of players as those two come back, or does it change now? Does it change for the players who filed lawsuits and had their memberships revoked?”
“A lot has happened over the last four years for that to happen. I’m glad I’m not in that room and I have faith that the people in that room will make the right decision.”
Is there a way to return to all LIV players?
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Eamon Lynch told Golf Today on the Golf Channel that the return of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau to the PGA and European Tours has proven extremely difficult for both of them, and that LIV Golf will be difficult to continue without investment.
Jamie Weir on Sky Sports News:
“What I can say with some certainty is that no one in their right mind would put the amount of cash into LIV that PIF did. They spent close to $6 billion and the return on investment was very low. No one in their right mind would want to fund a failing business.
“The big question is where the players are going to leave. It is true that several players are exploring exit strategies. They will likely play the remaining seven tournaments of this year’s LIV season and then seek to terminate their contracts and join the regular tour.”
“You can’t paint every player with a single stroke of a pen. Some of the richest players, like Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, may decide to call it quits on professional golf.
“I think we can say with some certainty that we’ll never see Phil Mickelson on the PGA Tour again. As one American commentator said yesterday, ‘That bridge was burned, destroyed, destroyed.’
“And there are eight players with DP World Tour cards – the most high profile being Tyrell Hatton – so the path that Patrick Reed has probably chosen is open to them.
“Then there’s a bigger category of regular tour players. They’re not going to sit back. They’re going to have a little bit more of a tough road back.”
“It’s going to be very interesting, especially for Rahm and DeChambeau, to see their path to return. The offer that was made to them and Brooks Koepka in January was a one-time offer.”
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