The civil war between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf may have come to an end. But another battle appears to be brewing among the players. After months of speculation, the breakaway league finally accepted its fate, deciding to liquidate its assets after BC Partners withdrew its $300 million funding proposal to keep LIV afloat in 2027. But that brought a new struggle.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
LIV players started flooding the DP World Tour. Naturally, fearing they could lose their spots, several European golfers expressed frustration over allowing them back without consequences. Similarly, Erik van Rooyen asked LIV returnees to “Go back to Q-School.” Now, he has revealed whether he received any backlash for those comments while clearifying his stance.
“No, no one that I hang around with. It might be people I don’t know on social media,” van Rooyen said after round 1 of the Austin Championship. “I made a comment about saying guys should go back to Q-School. I think it’s completely status dependent, right? Like Jon Rahm has no reason to go back to Q-School.
“But if a player in my position went and played Sunshine Tour for two years, I’d lose my rights to play here, so I would have to go to Q-School and find my way back, right?” he added, issuing a fresh challenge for LIV players to compete in Q-School first with his own example. “So isn’t that fair? I have nothing against players that went to LIV, nothing personal at all.
“But that’s just how things work, right? So shouldn’t we just follow the rules?”
This, of course, comes after van Rooyen’s comments last week when he was competing at the FedEx Cup Fall event at El Cardonal at Diamante.
“We were told initially that if you played LIV, you would be banned from the PGA Tour, and the story just kept changing,” he said after hearing about LIV’s collapse. “They gave the finger to the Tour. If you’re that good, go get it done. 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.”
Van Rooyen’s remark was made in the context of his broader point that LIV players who left should face the same consequences as any player who leaves the tour—a position he framed as fair rather than personal.
While the South African’s frustration over LIV returnees is valid, it’s not like everyone is allowed back into the PGA Tour. 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed is allowed to compete on the DP World Tour because he holds an Honorary Life Membership and maintained compliance with tour requirements after leaving LIV Golf.
Reed is currently serving his suspension and will likely earn his PGA Tour card by finishing in the top 10 of the Race to Dubai standings. Others, like Jon Rahm, have already paid their fines to the DP World Tour, allowing them to compete. However, even Rahm cannot return to the PGA Tour without first serving his suspension, which he is currently doing.
And just as van Rooyen demanded, several former LIV players had to go through the DP World Tour’s Q-School, with only three managing to earn cards on the European circuit. In the meantime, the Player Advisory Council chairman has also shared his thoughts on LIV returnees.
Lucas Glover accepts that, as a human being, it “sucks” for LIV returnees
Lucas Glover, who is set to join the Tour Policy Board as a player director next year, understands that the collapse of LIV Golf has left several players in a difficult position, both professionally and personally. The Player Advisory Council chairman acknowledged that while the breakaway league’s failure may have consequences for those who left, he also feels for the people affected by its downfall.
“A lot of people lost their jobs, people with families and bills to pay, so, from a human being standpoint, it sucks,” Glover said. “From a golf standpoint, it kind of sucks for the guys that committed to that, but the writing has been on the wall for a couple of months. With the guys that left, it was going to be a tough sell.”
However, Glover still doesn’t want them to return without any consequences.
“I do think penalties need to be served,” he said, while adding that he would welcome stars like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm if they meet the criteria to return.
It appears that after LIV Golf collapsed, pros are on high alert about the injustice that can occur if LIV returnees are welcomed back without any consequences.