LIV Golf players who left PGA Tour face tough road to rejoin says Tour Vice-President - "An additional set of guidelines to consider"
The topic of LIV Golf and its players took center stage at the PGA Tour's pre-tournament press conference ahead of the TOUR Championship. Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Vice Chairman Tyler Dennis addressed the issue.
Dennis specifically touched on the subject of existing rules and how they would be applied in case LIV Golf players return to the PGA Tour. The vice president spoke of the well-known one-year ban rule but also mentioned that other "additional guidelines" would apply.
Here is a portion of what Dennis had to say (via Sports Illustrated):
"Players who have never played on the Tour and have no outstanding connection to previous membership, there is a one-year waiting period between when you play in an unauthorized event and being able to return to the PGA Tour."
He added:
"Players who are members or were members of the Tour also have all of our tournament regulations and conduct policies applying to them. But there’s an additional set of guidelines to consider."
Tyler Dennis did not go into detail as to what the "additional set of guidelines" would be. The DP World Tour imposes fines and suspensions on players who do not fulfill their obligations to the tour to play on LIV Golf.
Later this week, LIV Golf star Tyrrell Hatton will play in the DP World Tour's British Masters as he is still an active member on the tour. Hatton has played the entire season on the breakaway tour and still has two tournaments left, the Individual Championship and the Team Championship.
Jay Monahan, LIV Golf, and the negotiations with the Public Investment Fund
On the same topic, Jay Monahan provided an update on the negotiations between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. However, the commissioner did not provide many details on the matter.
Monahan stated that the ultimate goal of the negotiations is to get all the top players competing again. However, he did not mention any specific issues being worked on, nor did he give a timeframe for an agreement.
"We're in those discussions," Monahan said. "We're at the table. They're complex, and it's going to take time."
Monahan said the PGA Tour's negotiating team is made up of the "right people" and that they are focusing on the things they "can control".
The PGA Tour and the PIF announced the start of their negotiations on June 6, 2023, after signing the so-called "Framework Agreement". The negotiations originally had a deadline of December 31 last year but this was extended indefinitely as no final agreement was reached.
The PGA Tour has already announced its schedule for 2025, which does not include any reference to LIV Golf, so no unification or cooperation of any kind is expected at least for the next season.