First was Brooks Koepka and now Patrick Reed.
The question now becomes who will be next as the great experiment called LIV Golf appears to be coming unwound.
On Wednesday, Reed became the second big name to ask to return to the PGA Tour, citing a preference for the old way of doing things.
“I’m a traditionalist at heart,” said the nine-time PGA Tour winner in a social media post, “and I was born to play on the PGA TOUR.”
The traditionalist was paid a reported $50 million to join the upstart league in 2022. During his four years on LIV, his team, the 4 Aces, captured seven team titles, while he won just a single individual event. But it does mean he ‘ll depart with millions more.
It will be some time before Reed plays a PGA Tour event. He didn’t get the same sweet deal offered to Koepka, who tees off on Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open. Reed will need to wait until late August before he can play on the PGA Tour and, until then, will ply his trade on the DP World Tour. He won a tournament on that circuit last week, capturing the Dubai Desert Classic by four shots.
Reed can regain PGA Tour membership if he finishes in the top 10 on that circuit or play next year with past champion status. In both cases, he won’t be available for the Tour’s Player Equity Program payouts, which could be as high as what he received for signing with LIV, until 2030. Reed does have an exemption into the Masters after finishing third a year ago and, sitting 29th in the world rankings, he is all but assured of getting into the other three majors. He is also eligible to be a captain’s pick for this year’s Presidents Cup.
Reed may not have been one of the biggest stars on LIV, but he is definitely on the second tier. In other words, his departure hurts LIV and helps the PGA Tour, even if he isn’t exactly the most well-liked golfer no matter where he plays.
New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is still likely more than happy to have him and help his product while hurting that of the competition.
There are some lower-profile players also hoping to get back to the PGA Tour after some time on LIV. Kevin Na, Hudson Swafford and Pat Perez have reportedly also applied for reinstatement. That won’t happen until January 2027 at the earliest.
Meanwhile LIV CEO Scott O’Neil is left with Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Cam Smith and a host of players who are recognizable, but – for the most part – past their best before dates. The notable newcomers to the Saudi-backed league this year are Ben An and Thomas Detry, both nice guys, but they won’t sell a lot of tickets or drive up television ratings.
O’Neil has attempted to stem the exodus by making moves in an attempt to get world ranking points for LIV events. That helps players get into the four majors, still the pinnacle of the golf calendar. This year’s LIV events will be 72 holes up from 54, and there are more – but still not very many – ways to earn a spot on the circuit. Toronto’s Richard T. Lee can attest to that as he made it through a grueling qualifying process to earn a spot, becoming the first Canadian on LIV. The Official World Golf Ranking committee is expected to rule on Friday as to whether these changes are enough to allow points for performance on LIV.
O’Neil has also made strides in getting the tour on television in the U.S., signing a deal with Fox. So far, it hasn’t been a big draw as the tournaments are scattered over a few different Fox channels and are played at far-from-prime-time hours when the events are in different parts of the world. There is still no television contract in Canada and, by one report, there are no plans to hold an event here any time soon.
LIV begins its fifth season on Thursday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with all four rounds played under the lights. With the loss of two of their biggest stars and, perhap,s more coming, the question is how long will the backers keep those lights on.
