Future of LIV Stars, PGA Preview

Sign up every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in sports and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, our writers discuss the future of LIV Golf’s star players and the upcoming PGA Championship at Aronimink.

For the first time since the news broke that the Saudi PIF will not fund LIV Golf after this season, League CEO Scott O’Neiland the players spoke to the media at this week’s DC tour. What was your biggest takeaway from what you heard from Trump National?

Jack Hirsh, Equipment Editor (@JR_HIRSHey): That LIV is on the ropes. I think we knew that already, but nothing O’Neil would do to convince me otherwise. It seemed like O’Neil was being more reactionary than anything else, meaning he didn’t see the PIF withdrawing funds. This isn’t a death sentence, but the next time the media hears from him, he’ll have to come up with a more concrete plan for how LIV will survive. It didn’t seem like he knew how it was going to happen yet.

Josh Schrock, news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): As expected, it seems like everyone is trying to figure out what’s next or if there is one other for LIV Golf. O’Neil didn’t offer many specifics on what funding they could get or what a 2027 season would look like. I thought Jon Rahm saying the players would have to make “releases” to keep the business alive was one. What does this look like? Who is interested in doing this? Still very unknown.

Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): LIV as we know it is over. This is already BEEN true – the original vision was a marriage of Greg Norman and Yasir Al-Rumayyan and had almost empty access to the Saudi PIF reserves – but it was even clearer this week, as O’Neil explained that the plan is to become a new plan and the players talked about omissions and unknowns.

A looming question is the future of Bryson DeChambeau, whose contract expires at the end of this year and who said last week that he could focus on growing his YouTube channel and play “tours that love me” if it doesn’t work out for him to return to LIV or the PGA Tour. How valuable is Bryson to the future of the PGA Tour? And who holds the reins in Bryson’s future?

Hirsh: There’s no doubt that Bryson is extremely important to the PGA Tour in terms of how much eyeballs he can draw to those who might not otherwise be looking. That said, people will see right through his bluff. Bryson is fun, no doubt, but if he’s not playing competitive golf, then some of that really disappears. What can set him apart from every other YouTuber? I think his viewers have the greatest amount of influence on his future. Maybe I’m wrong and people would still watch him if he stopped playing competitive golf once the exemptions ran out. But if I’m not and he loses command of his viewers, you’ll see him come back to the PGA Tour with his tail wrapped.

Schrock: Bryson has value for the PGA Tour. If you’re just looking at a spreadsheet of who brings the eyeballs and whose presence would translate into dollars and cents, Bryson would be in the green. But the PGA Tour is doing just fine without him, and I don’t think he’s doing himself much favors by saying the PGA Tour is fighting and complaining about the policy governing players’ creation of social media content on the tour. It will be fascinating to see what a comeback would look like for Bryson, if he wants to come back. He was the lead plaintiff in the antitrust suit against the PGA Tour in 2022, which members had to pay to defend. He despised the PGA Tour on his way out and worked to recruit players to LIV. Basically, everything Brooks Koepka didn’t do, he did. Bryson had all the leverage in the negotiations when Koepka dropped LIV. With the PIF no longer involved, he has lost that influence and it is now up to the PGA Tour to decide if and how he will return. Playing YouTube full time is a good title, but as Jack pointed out, eventually the exceptions run out. They don’t hand them out for breaking 50 with Steph Curry.

Dethier: Everyone will really benefit from an enthusiastic partnership. They will also survive just fine without the other. There is a danger in trying to force something that neither side fully buys into; to Bryson’s point, he should only play the PGA Tour if he wants to and if they want him to.

While appearing on The Rich Eisen Show last week, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said he is interested in doing anything that makes the PGA Tour better when it comes to reintegrating players, but “we have to balance that with the interest of our current players.” How does Rolapp improve his tour while not also pissing off the current members who never left in the first place?

Hirsh: Oh man! Isn’t that the million dollar question? I don’t think there’s a scenario where the PGA Tour product gets much better for the fans, but most Tour pros (especially the guys ranked 75-125) aren’t mad. Personally, I’m not a fan of the proposed two-tier Tour, but I can see how it would make it easier for the casual fan. As for reintegration. I say guys who wouldn’t otherwise be kicked out should take the Patrick Reed route. Sorry, not bad.

Schrock: When someone finds the answer to this question, please let me know. I think we’re really only talking about a handful of players and the real questions revolve around Bryson and Rahm. It feels like the second-tier bucket — Tyrrell Hattons and Joaquin Niemanns — could take Patrick Reed’s way back through the DP world tour and most members wouldn’t bat an eye. But how Rolapp constructs a punishment and comeback path for Bryson and Rahm, two players who have irritated the membership in a way that Brooks Koepka did not, will be a tightrope act.

Dethier: I think we’ve seen versions of these reintegration programs with Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed – but those guys voluntarily returned while LIV was still in existence. This version is much more complex. Especially when Bryson stated that he will be with LIV as long as LIV exists and that he wants to take care of the potential young stars of the league and their future as well. I don’t see a simple solution.

The second men’s major of the year is upon us as we head Aronimink out of Philadelphia for The PGA Championship. What’s your top story for this year’s event?

Hirsh: That more golf tournaments should be held in Philly. I’m biased, but come on, we only get a golf tournament in metro Philly every four years (next on the schedule is the 2030 US Open at Merion). There are dozens of outstanding tour-quality venues within 90 minutes of the airport. Not to mention it’s the best food city in the Northeast (I said what I said). I think the Philly crowds will come out in force this week and show everyone exactly why we need to have a regular event. I’m sure the Cobbs Creek project will be highlighted and I hope it can host a tour in Philly soon.

Schrock: I feel like every PGA Championship has the same major story, which is: So what is the identity of this major? Since moving to May, the PGA Championship has been on the move. It’s a big one, but it doesn’t really have the major juice that we’ll get at the US Open, Masters or Open. It’s almost Chevron-esque in that you’re telling me it’s a major, but I’m not seeing it. Going to Valhalla and Quail Hollow hasn’t helped. I’m happy for Aronomink giving us a great feel that we’ve been missing in this event, but we’re still looking for an identity for the main four.

Dethier: Jordan Spieth shooting Career Grand Slamguys! (Back on the ground) Honestly, for me it’s the main Scottie-Rory hunt going on. According to Schrock, as the PGA continues to hunt for an identity, its strongest virtue is that yes, it’s a big one! These are the ones we really keep track of. I can’t wait.

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have won four of the last five majors, with McIlroy already taking the Masters this year. Which player do you like the most to enter the PGA?

Hirsh: Rory just won one. Scottie has finished second in his last bajillion events. I more likely see him defending his title than Rory getting halfway to the slam.

Schrock: Rory won at Augusta with his B game. Scottie has been playing his B game for the past two months and barely finishes outside the top five. I feel like Scottie’s floor is a Sunday game and a -5, while Rory can win or bomb early. I’ll take Scottie.

Dethier: Scottie is the best golfer in the world and continues to play like one, so I’ll take him in an old-school major championship test over anyone. But I think Cameron Young can win, and I also think these three can finish 1-2-3 in some order, like they did at Augusta National.

Alex Fitzpatrick wasn’t a PGA Tour member until he teamed with his brother, world No. 4 Matthew Fitzpatrick, to win the Zurich Classic last month. But in his first two starts as a Tour member, Alex tied for 9th in the Cadillac Championship and now fourth in the Truist Championship on Sunday. Has his play been the biggest surprise of 2026? If not, what has it been?

Hirsh: Yes, and I don’t think anything will do it. Go from zero status to winning a team event with your brother and finishing top-10 in the next two Siggies? Now he is playing in his second major. Quite a whirlwind.

Schrock: In a year of surprises, from the return of Brooks Koepka to Rory’s second jacket and a terrific win by Gary Woodland, I think Alex Fitzpatrick’s last month, namely how he has played after Zurich, is the biggest surprise. I’d like to throw in Brandt Snedeker’s win today at Myrtle Beach, which was his first win in almost eight years and his first since undergoing experimental sternum surgery. He had five top-10s in six years entering this week!

Dethier: The biggest surprise of 2026 is what Sungjae Im did out of that bunker at the weekend. However, apart from that? Yeah, I’d say the Fitzpatrick Brothers take the cake, with a nod to some epic, inspirational wins by the 40-year-old trio (Rose, Woodland, Snedeker). Also, you saw what happened on the Euro Tour this weekend? Golf is full of glorious, unexpected surprises. Maybe another one this week.

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