WHATEVER LIV’s fate, Australian golf bosses say there should not be any recrimination against players who defected to the renegade Saudi-backed tour.
Golf Australia’s James Sutherland and his PGA counterpart Gavin Kirkman are united in their belief that LIV players should be welcomed back into the fold.
And they find themselves with an unlikely ally in a man known for changing his mind between social media posts, US President, Donald Trump.
Trump, too, has called for LIV players to be reintegrated into the PGA Tour as the Saudi-backed league faces collapse following the withdrawal of its main financial backer. The funding crisis has left the futures of top Australian and international LIV golfers uncertain with industry leaders urging a unified approach to keep elite talent competing.
LIV is now seeking private investors, while PGA officials consider potential pathways for returning players.
There’s still a fair bit to play out but Kirkman and Sutherland are rallying behind LIV’s Australian players Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert and Elvis Smylie.
Cam Smith has the support of Australian golf were he looking for a path back to the PGA Tour.
Kirkman is emphatic. Smith is “too young to retire” and plans to meet the Queenslander’s management team.
Sutherland has also voiced support, saying the players should be free to compete on any tour, while noting ongoing discussions about LIV’s instability.
As for those most affected, the LIV players, they seem to be hanging onto the hope a new white knight investor will come to the rescue of the crumbling breakaway tour.
A defiant Cameron Smith has dismissed retirement rumours and stressed that LIV Adelaide will go ahead next year despite Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund removing its funding of the breakaway league at the end of this season.
Smith and Bryson DeChambeau defected from the PGA Tour in acrimonious circumstances and may face severe penalties if they try to return.
“There were rules, and they were broken,” PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp is on the record as saying.
“With rules comes accountability.”
Brooks Koepka became the first LIV player to return to the PGA when the five-time major winner jumped ship last December.
The 35-year-old American’s return was made possible as the PGA created a Returning Member Program, described as offering “a route back to elite performers who no longer have contractual limitations preventing them from complying with PGA Tour rules and regulations”.
Brooks Koepka became the first player to return from LIV to the PGA Tour.
It is believed Kopeka’s return came with him paying a hefty fine in the millions of dollars to the PGA Tour.
There is a lot of ill-will towards the defectors in the US. Speaking on the Dan Patrick Show, renowned golf reporter Brandel Chamblee said: “These players are only coming back when LIV folds at the end of this year, they’ll only be coming back because they have no other choice.
“I think the road back will be quite a bit bumpier and more expensive.
“They were paid exponential amounts of money to go play for LIV, (now) they’re going to have to pay to come back and play on the PGA tour.”
On the Pat McAfee Show, golf journalist Mark Schlabach added: “They tried to reinvent a 200-year-old sport with a cheque book.
“The PGA Tour obviously has all the leverage right now. I think there’s still some hard feelings on that side.
“I’ve had people in the last 24 hours tell me, ‘Screw those guys, we don’t care who they are.’”
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