Returning players from LIV Golf to the PGA Tour? No! Monahan is strict about this!

After PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan revealed news about the PGA Tour circuit at a press conference on Wednesday, it begs the question of whether players who have decided to switch to LIV Golf would have a chance to return to the U.S. Tour in the future. Theoretically, they could be inspired by the increased purses in particular, as finances likely played a major role in their decision.

That’s how the question landed on the head of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan on Wednesday in Atlanta before the start of the Tour Championship. But the head of the traditional event was very specific in his answer.

“No,” said Monahan clearly, who was quoted by GolfDigest. “They have joined the LIV Golf Series and have made that commitment,” he made his position clear. This is no surprise, however, as Monahan has been a strong critic of the LIV Golf project from the very beginning. A few weeks ago, he likened events from a rival company to exhibition tournaments.

“I have been clear all along, every player has a choice and I respect their choice. But we all made our choice. We will continue to focus on the things we control and get stronger and stronger. I think they understand that,” the PGA boss elaborated.

Practically, this only reinforces the position of the PGA Tour, which has no interest in negotiating anything with LIV Golf representatives under any circumstances. Monahan responded to the resulting competition with a counterattack in the form of improvements to his own facility.

Although LIV Tour CEO Greg Norman also disagrees with Monahan’s statements, unlike him he is interested in discussing a possible joint tour. It should be noted that even among the defectors to LIV there are several players interested in operating on both circuits. This is also why litigation has entered into the whole matter before the start of this year’s FedEx Cup.

It was all about allowing the players who left to join the LIV to play the top PGA Tour event they qualified for during the season. They defended themselves primarily with statements that it could hurt them financially.

But the court rejected that because it had ample evidence that by signing with the LIV, these players made far more money than they could have made in the FedEx Cup. So the PGA Tour won this initial litigation. It is more than clear that more courtroom battles will continue in the future.

Source: PGA Tour, GolfDigest