Facing what will become golf’s biggest question, Xander Schauffele he said he wasn’t sure where he was staying. Jon Rahm’s attorney had just announced his client’s departure from LIV Golf, and Schauffele, one of the faces of the PGA Tour, was asked about a path back to failure like Rahm. He did not disclose his feelings on the matter, but his explanation for the obstacles ahead once the LIV threat was officially over proved present a month later.
“I have no idea,” Schauffele said at the Baycurrent Classic last month. “There are 225 guys with Tour cards and if you sit down and interview them all, you’ll get probably three or four boxes of how the guys feel. Some guys don’t care, some guys are really marked, some want them to have a huge fine, some would let them back tomorrow. Where they sit in those boxes, they’re really in mind. the business most of the time.”
A month later, the lawyers of LIV announced that the league was entering liquidation proceedings of bankruptcy and that LIV 2.0 would not be successful as expected. As the rebel league went from an existential threat to a dust-covered relic, the players in Abu Dhabi and Los Cabos were asked about a path back for Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton and everyone in between. As Schauffele noted, the world of professional golf could be united, but opinions on its biggest question are divided.
Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose they said they would welcome LIV defectors. Scottie Scheffler said what “penalty” must be paidBut he would like “some” of the LIV boys back. At the World Championship of Technology, a player at the other end of the spectrum had a different opinion.
“Back to Q-school,” said Erik van Rooyen Golf week Adam Schupak in Mexico. “We were told initially that if we played at LIV, we would be banned from the PGA Tour, and the story kept changing. They gave the finger to the Tour. If you’re that good, go do it.”
In Abu Dhabi, player director Adam Scott agreed that players who left should have to earn their way back to the tour they want to play, whether it’s the PGA Tour or DP World Tour.
“I think the best thing is that everyone is getting back into the system they want to go,” Scott said. Today’s Golfer. “They quit and gave up those privileges. So, you know, I think they should retrain.
Just before the end of LIV, I asked Adam Scott how his players should be reintegrated into the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
He thinks they should be qualified: pic.twitter.com/Wbh2UbOCay
— Ben Parsons (@_benparsons) November 5, 2026
McIlroy said he would like to see players who have left welcomed back through the DP World Tour, playing for their PGA Tour cards like Patrick Reed has this year after leaving LIV in January.
“It would be an amazing thing for this tour if all those guys were channeled through the DP World Tour and were made to qualify like that,” McIlroy said. “I think this is the right scenario and the right decision and it also makes this tour incredibly strong.
“It’s only going to be in the Championship Series. It’s only going to be a handful of cards, so it’s going to be very, very competitive.”
Back in Mexico, Lucas Glover said he would welcome guys like Rahm and DeChambeau if they meet the criteria set by the PGA Tour. But like Scheffler, Glover doesn’t think the road back should come without pay.
“I think the penalties have to be served,” Glover said. “I don’t know what the stipulations will be. I’m not sure what the Tour does, either. I’m not being shy about it. I’m not alone, and I don’t think they’ll do it either.”
This week was the first time Rahm has teed it up since announcing his decision to leave LIV. When asked about 2027 and whether he plans to play a full DP World Tour schedule or try to return to the PGA Tour, Rahm said he had not yet engaged the PGA Tour in discussions about his return. He understands that the “Program of returning members”, which allowed Brooks Koepka to return and which he rejected, is probably not available to him, but he is willing to pay any price that commissioner Brian Rolapp has to return.
“Obviously, Brooks has been able to bounce back in certain circumstances,” Rahm said in Abu Dhabi. “I don’t know if the possibility of that has been open to me or not, but if I have to do a one-year suspension, I think it’s a pretty good position to be in and worst case scenario, I can play on a wonderful tour for a whole year.
“Probably, yes,” Rahm said when asked if he would accept Koepka’s deal if it was offered to him now. “Why not? Yeah, but that’s a big if. I seriously doubt I’d be offered the same deal that Brooks did. But yeah, if he offered me the exact same penalties as him, I probably would, yeah.”
Koepka had to make a $5 million charitable donation, waive player equity grants on the PGA Tour for five years and was ineligible for sponsor invitations to Signature Events in 2026.
The PGA Tour has not issued a statement since LIV announced he would be leaving, but Rolapp’s previous statements on the issue show he understands the tightrope he will have to walk with a membership that is full of opinions about players who have left the tour, the value they bring if they return and what should be a proper punishment.
“When it comes to LIV players or anyone who wants to be on the Tour. One, the Tour is built on meritocracy. Every player, whether they are already here or trying to be here, they have to earn a place based on their performance and their success. It is a core principle of the sport, and certainly it is of the PGA Tour,” Rol said in August. “Two, the Tour is a membership organization. It has rules. These rules exist for many reasons, for fair and competitive reasons. They exist so that we can really create the Tour as we know it. Rules matter. Three, rules only matter if they are enforced. So accountability and discipline are essential for any organization, and certainly for the integrity of the Tour and for the game, especially for the integrity of the rules and the game.
“Those are guiding principles for us. The rules matter. Again, I’ve been very public that I want to do what’s best for the PGA Tour, and that’s still my guiding principle. Whatever happens, those will be the guiding principles.”
At the time, Rolapp’s comments were under a hypothetical scenario. LIV was still trying to move forward without the support of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. They hope to retain most of their talent and launch LIV 2.0. Rolapp said the Tour would only talk to players who could show they no longer had contractual obligations to another tour. They had those conversations as they arrived, but Rolapp made it clear that the deal Koepka took was no longer on the table. His focus was on the future of the PGA Tour and not a battle with LIV that the Tour won.
But that future focus now includes answering the sport’s most pressing question. For years, the golf world has talked about unification. With LIV waving the white flag, it’s time to figure out how it goes. It’s a question without an easy answer—at least not one that will make everyone happy.