Should LIV Players Give Back Their Money? (The Answer is No)

It appears the world of professional golf will remain divided for the foreseeable future.

The holdup for bringing it back together? The same thing that tore it apart in the first place. As ABBA or The O’Jays would sing: Money, money, money.

Earlier this week, a Bloomberg report said one of the main sticking points in the PGA Tour’s potential partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—officials from both sides met last week in New York—is that many Tour players want to see LIV golfers incur some sort of financial penalty for their decision to leave.

There is no huge surprise here. LIV players have been basking in the glow of $25-million purses and extravagant signing bonuses. Jon Rahm has won $35 million this season on top of a massive bonus to join the league (rumored to be around $300 million). Joaquin Niemann won more than $24 million—the most he ever earned on Tour was in 2020-2021 when he took home just north of $5 million.

More than 18 LIV players—many of them former middle-of-the-road PGA Tour players—made $5 million or more individually this season in LIV events. That doesn’t include payouts from the team championship which takes place this weekend in Texas. Add in major championship payouts (which isn’t a ton outside of Bryson DeChambeau) and signing bonuses (which is significant depending on the player), and most LIV golfers have clearly made more money relative to their counterparts on Tour.

Some Tour players want that money forfeited, whether through fines or some other penalty.

Let’s stop here before continuing: I don’t think this concept holds water. As much as I dislike LIV for a variety of reasons—the top reason being that the product just isn’t that compelling and pro golf as a whole is significantly watered down because of it—these players took a risk and signed contracts. There were substantial PR hits in some cases. They accepted (and definitely spent!) the money.

It happened. You can’t retroactively change any of that and why would any LIV player agree to that?

Yes, they can’t just walk right back onto the Tour like nothing happened. Many of these guys turned around and tried to sue the Tour. My friend Talor Gooch requested a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) to double dip so he could try to play in the 2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs. Phil Mickelson and others basically wrote the constitution for a new league.

There has to be some transition back but I think it comes in the form of limitations on future earnings instead of forcing money to be paid back.

Perhaps LIV players can only compete in a certain number of Tour events. Or they never get access to equity in the Tour. Or they forgo FedEx Cup bonuses. There can be probation periods to limit their Tour earnings while they still compete on LIV—which seems like it won’t be going anywhere, especially as Department of Justice scrutiny remains a critical factor.

Apparently, those type of punishments would not be harsh enough for some.

Rory McIlroy shed additional light on the topic, saying that both Tour and LIV players are split on whether they are in favor of a union that would bring the leagues together somehow.

“I’d say maybe half the players on LIV want the deal to get done; half probably don’t,” McIlroy explained during a press conference. “I’d say it’s probably similar on the PGA Tour. Because, just like anything, everyone’s looking out for themselves and their best interests. It would benefit some people for a deal not to get done but it would obviously benefit some people for a deal to get done.”

We can take some guesses as to who would benefit and who wouldn’t.

Mainly, I think this would boil down to the top stars getting more money. Some of LIV’s stars might prefer having the doors open to play high-stakes Tour events like the Players Championship or FedEx Cup. There could be Ryder Cup captaincy or playing considerations for some Europeans who are otherwise ineligible. It could also make some LIV players less toxic for sponsors. And on the Tour side, joining forces with LIV would theoretically open doors to more events with $25-million purses while further securing the Tour’s financial future.

But outside of the top 30-50 guys, the appetite is likely not as strong.

Consider someone like Anirban Lahiri who is making $5 million a year on LIV competing against 48-man fields. Lahiri had been averaging a little over $1 million per year on Tour across eight seasons before leaving for LIV.

He’s the 124th-best golfer in the world according to Data Golf. What kind of access would he have to those types of purses if a new structure comes into play and only the top guys compete for the biggest chunks of cash? That question remains unanswered but it’s feasible that players like Lahiri would see less money.

On the Tour side, journeyman Michael Kim said there wouldn’t be much effect as he believes the Tour’s lower-tier events shouldn’t be touched by this as much as some might assume.

“Do I want a deal? My short answer is no but I don’t care much,” Kim tweeted. “Whether the Tour and LIV make a deal or not, it will not affect my bottom line. It won’t change my schedule in the slightest bit and won’t change my earnings. This realistically only affects the top 30ish golfers on the pgatour and that they’ll prob make more money after this deal.”

Kim went on to make a salient point that bringing the LIV guys back into the fold wouldn’t suddenly breathe life back into the stale TV product that is stuck in a ratings spiral.

“How many LIV guys actually affect ratings and events?” Kim wrote. “Phil, Bryson, Rahm? Will it increase ratings and earnings by more than 1%? Sure the first couple events would be cool but after that? I might be totally wrong but that’s my opinion. What’ll make a much bigger difference is how to make the TV product much better.”

Whatever the case, McIlroy is right: everyone will be looking out for themselves. Depending on a player’s status in the game, a “merger” may or may not be welcome news.

We’ve seen this in every other sport—even if you are a millionaire a hundred times over, you still want to maximize profits while you’re able to make them. And it’s possible a reunion of pro golf doesn’t maximize profits for everyone.

McIlroy described leaders on both sides—the embattled Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan—as “rowing in the same direction.”

That is nice but we’ve gone more than 15 months with no meaningful public updates. Schedules for 2025 have been released. Even if an agreement is in place, it would be ambitious to think the golf world sees fundamental changes come to fruition by the start of 2026.

So we continue to wait. Hey, at least the majors aren’t going anywhere.

Top Photo Caption: Jon Rahm made a reported $300 million by switching to LIV, but will he have to pay that back? (GETTY IMAGES/Andrew Redington)