LIV Golf confirmed on Nov. 5 that it would begin an orderly wind-down of its operations after failing to secure the financial backing it needed to continue. The league’s two biggest stars, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, now need a place to play, and the PGA Tour has not said whether it will make an exception for either.
The PGA Tour requires players to serve a one-year suspension from their last LIV event before they are eligible to return. That means no former LIV player can play the PGA Tour until August 2027.
The tour already offered both players a way back. Last year, Rahm and DeChambeau were among four LIV players offered a returning member program that included a $5 million fine, no equity shares for five years, and no direct access to signature events or FedEx Cup bonus money. Brooks Koepka was the only player who accepted.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has said that door is closed and won’t reopen. In September, while announcing the PGA Tour’s new two-tier competitive model for 2028, Rolapp addressed LIV again. “We are not currently contemplating a returning member program,” he said.
“One, the PGA Tour is built on meritocracy,” Rolapp said. He added that the tour is a membership organization with rules that exist for fairness and competitive balance.
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Rahm said this week he would accept the same penalties Koepka received if the tour offered them again. He said he has not had any conversations with the PGA Tour about a return. “I seriously doubt I get offered the same deal that Brooks did,” Rahm said.
Rahm plans to play the DP World Tour in 2027 while he serves what would likely be a one-year suspension. His final LIV start was at LIV Golf Indianapolis in August. He never gave up his DP World Tour membership.
DeChambeau’s situation is different. According to The Telegraph, the DP World Tour informed his advisers that, as the 2024 U.S. Open champion, he can take up full playing privileges next year. He must submit his form by Nov. 14.
That exemption originally covered five years, but a year comes off the end for every season a player doesn’t take it up. DeChambeau skipped 2025 and 2026. “He has the option for 2027, but that’s his final option,” Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir said.
If DeChambeau joins and finishes in the top 10 of the Race to Dubai, he could earn back his PGA Tour card for 2028. The PGA Tour has said it is weighing access to its 2028 Championship Series for top DP World Tour performers.
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DeChambeau was part of LIV’s antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. The tour has said it would not talk with any LIV player under contract to avoid legal issues, and those contracts will end as part of LIV’s liquidation.
This spring, DeChambeau said the tour’s cold reception was “quite unfortunate in my opinion, considering what I could do for them.” He also said he would return only if the players want him back.
DeChambeau has major championship status through 2029 and U.S. Open exemptions through 2034. In January, he called a schedule of YouTube content and majors a viable option. In May, he said he would focus on his YouTube channel if LIV failed, choosing that over a PGA Tour return.
In 2025, DeChambeau said, “I think that LIV is not going anywhere.” The Telegraph reported a new immediate path back for DeChambeau, Rahm and Cameron Smith is considered unlikely.
Rahm sits 51st in the Race to Dubai, just outside the top 50 who qualify for next week’s DP World Tour Championship. DeChambeau is scheduled to play the DP World Tour’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, in December.
