As the powers that be continue to iron out details for the proposed framework agreement that aims to unite professional golf, one of the biggest questions is what must happen for players who left for LIV Golf to return to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
Phil Mickelson didn’t mince words when he recently claimed “not a single player” who joined LIV Golf wanted to play on the PGA Tour. Are there some events players have fond memories of and wish they could play? Absolutely. But a full PGA Tour schedule, or even an abbreviated one, doesn’t sound appealing to the vast majority of those who made the leap to the 48-player, 12-team league.
We asked a handful of players what they thought ahead of this week’s LIV Golf Bedminster event at Trump National in New Jersey, and the answers were very similar.
Sergio Garcia
“I mean, I can’t speak for everyone else … I think that everyone around here is very happy and very comfortable where they are. Speaking for myself, yes.
“Like I said, I wanted to come here to LIV, not only because I love the product but because I wanted to play less. The possibility of playing PGA Tour comes, I doubt that I would play because I don’t want to play more.
“I want to play good-quality golf the amount of times that I want to play and be able to spend as much time as I can with family and friends. That’s my personal feeling.”
Henrik Stenson
“Well, I think it’s so early, we don’t know how this agreement would look to start with, but if I’m kind of stepping away from the overall, like, combined New Co., all the things that would be set up to kind of work out and regulate, just looking at a separate kind of playing side of things, we don’t know if anything would change in the regulations on how many tournaments you should play, whether that be in Europe, whether that be on the PGA Tour and everything.
“For me personally, if I’ve got 14 LIV events, I’ve got the Open Championship, I might play one or two other tournaments, I’m not looking to add another 15 PGA Tour events, even if I could.
“For me personally, if it’s still to play 15 PGA Tour events, I wouldn’t be interested in adding 15 more to my schedule at this point.
“I’ve played my busiest years kind of throughout my career. I’ve probably played close to 30 tournaments for the most part. It’s been about 25-ish, 23, 25 on a worldwide schedule, and if I’ve already got 15 I’m not looking to add another 15 at age 47.”
Anirban Lahiri
“I don’t think Phil is too far off the point with his comments. Obviously, it’s individual to individual. There’s 48 people here. There’s at least, if I’m not mistaken, close to 30 of us were fully exempt when we left or still in some category or the other.
“But I think it all comes down to each individual. Everybody had different motivations for coming over. I can speak for myself.
“I probably would not go back, and even if I did, I’d probably just want to play two or three events, and if I was to flip the coin and be on the other side of the ropes, I can’t see how that flies with the membership on the other side, either.
“I honestly feel that there’s so much conjecture, so much guessing, this is what I think, I think everybody just needs to pump their brakes. Whatever happens, happens. We are here playing LIV, enjoying it entirely, loving the team aspect, obviously making history, breaking new ground and creating a brand new golf product which is gaining momentum, and I’m enjoying being a part of this and looking forward to doing this for many, many seasons.
“Whether PGA Tour fits into that plan, I don’t know. But this is plan A. All of us have moved here with this being our primary place of practicing our profession. When and if and what happens, nobody really knows, but I think most of us are really happy here.
Bryson DeChambeau
“Yeah, maybe it happens, maybe it doesn’t. I know a lot of players don’t want it to happen. I know some players that know it needs to happen.
“From my perspective, I’m incredibly content having a team to rely on and play for and be a part of. I’m really enjoying that process. Like you said, this is plan A, and I’m not thinking about any other plans as of right now.
“Would it be fun to go play a couple events over there? Sure. There’s a lot of places and people I respect over there that I’d love to give my blood, sweat and tears for. They just haven’t made that possible yet. It’ll figure itself out in the future, but as of right now, what Ban said is absolutely true.”
Harold Varner III
“I don’t really have a say on that. I don’t really care. I just want to keep playing for a lot of money. I just want to keep playing. It’s fun. I just want to keep enjoying it. I love my schedule.
“There’s a couple of tournaments I want to play, but other than that, no, I like it here. Why would I go? I love the team format. I don’t think I can speak for everyone but I can definitely speak for myself.”
