PGA Tour has reaped million dollar benefits of imploding LIV Golf now rebels should be welcomed back

Apr 30, 2026 - 12:30

Saudi Arabia is set to pull the plug on LIV Golf after pouring around $6 billion into the breakaway tour.

Brooks Koepka had already jumped ship, but Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton missed their chance.

Koepka could lose up to $90 million for his right to play on the PGA Tour

They are now facing a brutal and expensive path back into the PGA Tour, with claims the conditions will be far more restrictive than Koepka was required to meet.

“I don’t necessarily have scar tissue, but there are plenty of people around our tour who do,” PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “It has to be accounted for in some shape or form.”

Dame Laura Davis joined Jeff Stelling and Gabby Agbonlahor on talkSPORT Breakfast to discuss the implosion, and what happens next.

“I never really understood the concept,” said the golf Hall of Famer. “I love 72-hole stroke play. You know, if you want music, go to a nightclub or something.

“I don’t understand the concept of what they tried to do. I understand why the players went because, you know, all professional sports people, when you get into it, you start trying to win prize money as golfers. And I can understand when someone puts an offer like that in front of you, very difficult to say no.

“But now the bigger names, the names you just mentioned, like Tyrrell Hatton, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, they’ll probably get back to the PGA Tour and some of the other guys, maybe the DP World Tour, but they’re not going to make it easy for them now.”

Rory McIlroy has been part of a vocal group condemning players who jumped ship, although the war of words has died down over the years as wounds begin to heal.

Davies highlighted that LIV has made a positive impact in some areas with PGA Tour prize money going through the roof.

“I think the sensible ones will welcome them back in that they need the best players,” she added. “We keep mentioning the big three for me. They’re the ones that will make a big impact. We can’t forget either that LIV Golf has made the PGA Tour prize funds go out of control. They’re out of control. They’re unfundable.

“So I think the players on the PGA Tour have earned a lot of money because of LIV. So I don’t see how they can have that much problem.

Davies insists the positive impact of LIV must be considered

DeChambeau is box office and would give the PGA Tour a boost

“I think he [Koepka] had to pay quite a lot of money and future money to get back on the tour. But he just got fed up with not having the true competition week in, week out.

“And now he’s back in it. I think maybe some of the other guys, possibly a little bit relieved that they are going to hopefully have a path back to play at the top level every single week on the great golf courses.”

World No. 2 McIlroy became just the fourth man in history to defend a Green Jacket at Augusta and with all the names flying round, Davies believes he is the successor to Tiger Woods as the face of golf.

“When you’ve got the likes of Rory McIlroy at the spearhead, I know Scotty Shuffler is the best player in the world, but Rory is the one that the kids just absolutely adore,” she explained. “And it was Tiger Woods before that.

“I think we had plenty to offer the youngsters in the game of golf before LIV and we’ll certainly have it after LIV. We don’t quite know what they’re going to do yet. But yeah, the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour as well for the young European golfers, it’s something to thrive for. You go and play the DP World Tour with a goal of thinking, let’s face it, the PGA Tour is the tour all the very best players in the world want to play on.

“So hopefully it’ll sort itself out over the next sort of six months or so. We’ll have the best players competing again week in week out. How that happens, we’ll have to wait and see. It’s going to cost them a bit of money to get back, I think.”

McIlroy is the man kids grow up wanting to be

How much will a PGA Tour return cost LIV golfers?

Koepka won’t be eligible for PGA Tour equity grants for the next five years and cannot take a slice of the $100 million FedEx Cup bonus money in 2026.

He also made a $5 million charitable contribution, with the total potential financial penalty set to come in at $55-90 million according to Tour estimates.

That will be a bitter pill to swallow for Rahm, Hatton and DeChambeau, but the PGA Tour holds all the cards.

Considering Rahm’s caddie has just put a 100-acre mansion on the market for $14 million, it might be best to pull out their wallets and get it over with.

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