Jordan Spieth says LIV Golf may survive despite the loss of their Saudi bankrollers.
Image: AFP
Golfers who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf should face consequences if they want to return, 2023 British Open champion Brian Harman said Thursday, amid news that the breakaway league will lose its Saudi funding.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed Thursday it would cease backing LIV after the 2026 season, with the announcement coming hours after LIV stated it was seeking to secure "long-term financial partners". The twin announcements sparked speculation that golfers who jumped to LIV — losing their PGA Tour membership in an acrimonious split — will now be wanting to flood back.
Harman, speaking at the PGA Tour's Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in Miami, said he expected there would be a path back for LIV golfers, but noted it was too soon to predict the terms.
"I would think that the fans want everyone to be playing together and, you know, time heals all wounds," the 39-year-old American said. However, he noted there was "still some sentiment out here, especially with all the lawsuit stuff. That stuff's going to be tough to get past".
PGA Tour loyalists were angered when 11 golfers, including six-time major champion Phil Mickelson, filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the tour in 2022, challenging their suspensions. Five-time major-winner Brooks Koepka has since returned to the PGA fold under a returning member programme that includes substantial financial penalties.
Harman is in favour of continued consequences for future returnees. "I think there has to be something," he said, adding that it would help ease "bad blood and resentment."
Yet, he acknowledged that LIV might not be finished just yet. "The funding's drying up, but they could secure funding from somewhere else and keep going. They have got a lot of big-name players over there, guys that move the needle."
Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth said he was glad he wasn't called on to make a decision after the tensions that erupted. "I know olive branches were given out a couple of months ago. Brooks took them up on it. So I'm not sure what would now change," Spieth said.
Spieth added that even with the loss of Saudi funding, it "doesn't necessarily mean that LIV's not going to still move on." He admitted he was happy to not be the one deciding the terms for any potential returns: "There's just a lot of different things that happened over the last four years. I'm kind of glad I'm not in that room."
US President Donald Trump, a vocal fan of the sport, said he would love to see top golfers like Masters champion Rory McIlroy playing regularly against the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.
"Now they'll all be accepted by the tour... they'll all be back on tour and it'll be great," Trump said. He also noted that LIV remains operational, with its next event scheduled for his own Trump National course on May 15 (the Potomac event in two weeks).
"I'm not sure what's happening with LIV, but they are playing at my course in two weeks."
AFP