Adam Scott says LIV Golf players who want back on the PGA Tour should have to earn it. The 2013 Masters champion and PGA Tour player director told Today’s Golfer in Abu Dhabi that players who left should re-qualify for whichever tour they want to play, whether that’s the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour.
“I think the fairest thing is that they all re-establish themselves in the system that they want to go to,” Scott said. “They left and gave up those privileges. So, you know, I think they should re-qualify themselves.”
Scott’s comments came as LIV’s lawyers announced the league was entering the liquidation process of bankruptcy. That ended plans for a relaunched LIV 2.0 and left its players looking for a new home.
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Erik van Rooyen put it more bluntly. “Go back to Q-school.”
The two-time PGA Tour winner was asked by Golfweek on Thursday at the World Wide Technology Championship in Los Cabos, Mexico, whether players who left for LIV should get an easy path back. He didn’t hold back.
“We were told initially that if you played LIV, you would be banned from the PGA Tour, and the story just kept changing,” van Rooyen said. “They gave the finger to the Tour. If you’re that good, go get it done.”
The South African then compared it to his own situation. “I have nothing against those players, but if I went home and played the Sunshine Tour for three or four years, I’m not being welcomed back with my old spot on the PGA Tour.”
The tournament where van Rooyen spoke was itself shaped by LIV. The World Wide Technology Championship moved to Los Cabos after its previous host, Mayakoba Resort in Playa del Carmen, partnered with the Saudi-backed league. Van Rooyen won the event in 2023, eagling the 72nd hole to take the title.
Rory McIlroy has been open to bringing LIV players back, but he also wants them to qualify. Speaking in Abu Dhabi, McIlroy said he would like to see them come through the DP World Tour and play their way onto the PGA Tour.
“It would be an amazing thing for this tour if all those guys were funneled through the DP World Tour and were made to qualify that way,” McIlroy said. “I think that’s the right scenario and the right decision and also makes this tour incredibly strong.”
He added that the path would not be easy. “It’s only going to be into the Championship Series. It’s only going to be a handful of cards, so it’s going to be very, very competitive.”
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Justin Rose is the most welcoming of the group. Speaking to The Mirror at the DP World India Championship last month, Rose said he holds no grudges against the players who left.
“It’s been an experiment; a whirlwind four or five years,” Rose said. “No hard feelings from my point of view. Everyone is welcome back. It’s great for golf for players to be able to play against the best players in the world as often as we can.”
Scottie Scheffler falls somewhere in the middle. At the BMW Championship in August, Scheffler said some LIV players would add to the PGA Tour, but that their return should come with a cost.
“When we talk about the best players, LIV has a few players that are really good,” Scheffler said. “I think the depth that we have on our tour is a bit unmatched, but when you look at the higher levels of LIV Golf, there’s definitely some players that would provide a lot of value to the Tour, and guys that I love competing against as well.”
“So I think going forward there obviously has to be, I think, some sort of penalties,” he continued. “What those are, I’ll let Rolapp and all those guys figure it out.”
The PGA Tour has not issued a statement since LIV announced it would wind down. Commissioner Brian Rolapp has previously said the Returning Member Program that brought back Brooks Koepka is no longer available.
