LIV 1.0 is officially in the dirt as the league prepares to reinvent itself with LIV 2.0 in 2027. Despite the overhaul, several players may be looking for opportunities elsewhere, including Bryson DeChambeau, whose contract with the league has ended. While he hasn’t announced his departure, the PGA Tour currently blocks the return of DeChambeau and other LIV players, at least for now. PGA Tour commissioner Brian Rolapp made that position clear.
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“We are not currently contemplating a returning member program,” Rolapp told the media, according to Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter on X. Rolapp’s statement blocks the Returning Member Program specifically, not all pathways for LIV players to rejoin. DeChambeau could pursue standard PGA Tour entry.
However, this is far from the first time Rolapp has made his stance clear on the matter. In late August, someone asked him if the PGA Tour would bring back its Returning Member Program. Rolapp’s answer was unequivocal: “No current plans” to revive the program. This makes Brooks Koepka the luckiest man on the Tour, since he could use the program to get back to the PGA Tour.
Koepka returned to the PGA Tour in January 2026 after leaving LIV Golf in December 2025. He used the Returning Member Program, created for elite players who had been away for at least two years and had won a major or The Players Championship between 2022 and 2025. Notably, the Returning Member Program was a strict, one-time pathway introduced in early 2026.
The organisers accepted applications only from January 12 to February 2, 2026, and the program covered only the 2026 season. Those who returned faced significant penalties, including a $5 million charitable donation, a five-year exclusion from the PGA Tour’s Player Equity Program, and no 2026 FedExCup bonus payout. Returning players could also use any remaining multi-year exemptions they had earned before leaving.
Meanwhile, the Tour expanded fields when necessary to ensure they did not take spots away from existing members. Other big names from LIV Golf, like Jon Rahm, claimed ahead of the Irish Open that he is “more than willing to fulfill” his contract with LIV Golf while avoiding giving explicit guarantees about long-term plans. But things aren’t looking all too good for LIV.
The breakaway tour filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, aiming to restructure the league ahead of the 2027 season. Court documents show that the breakaway tour owes Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau millions: $7.4 million and $5.77 million, respectively. And considering LIV has between $500 million and $1 billion in debt, while its estimated assets are between $100 million and $500 million, they might not be getting their money soon.
Regardless, this comes as the PGA Tour announced its “Last Chance Series,” a new four-to-six-event fall series, which will debut as part of the Tour’s revamped 2028 structure. The series will give players who fail to retain PGA Tour Championship Series status one final opportunity to save their place in the top tier for the following season. Under the new system, at least the top 90 players in the Championship Series standings will retain their status.
Meanwhile, the league will promote at least 20 players from the Challenger Series. Those who fall outside the top 90, along with Challenger Series players who miss the automatic promotion spots, can enter the Last Chance Series and compete for a limited number of remaining Championship Series places.