Three Other Former LIV Golf Members Hope to Follow Patrick Reed to PGA Tour

On the heels of Brooks Koepka, the 2018 Masters champion announced his return to the PGA Tour—and three other former LIV Golf members also want to come back.

Patrick Reed will be eligible to compete again on the PGA Tour later this year. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

SAN DIEGO — A week prior to the LIV Golf League’s season beginning in Riyadh, Patrick Reed announced Wednesday that he is leaving the circuit after four years and will be allowed to return to the PGA Tour in August.

Reed, who won the 2018 Masters and last week captured the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, said over the weekend that he was a free agent and was still negotiating with LIV Golf.

But the process clearly escalated quickly and his departure means that two major champions have left LIV Golf recently; Brooks Koepka is playing this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.

“After careful thought and consideration, my family and I have decided that I will no longer compete on the LIV Golf Tour,” Reed said in a statement. “I am excited to announce that I am returning to the PGA Tour as a past champion member for the 2027 season and am eligible to begin competing in PGA Tour events later this year.

“I will continue to compete and play as an Honorary Lifetime Member on the DP World Tour, which is something that I am truly honored and excited to do.”

After careful thought and consideration, my family and I have decided that I will no longer compete on the LIV Golf Tour.
 
I am excited to announce that I am returning to the PGA TOUR as a past champion member for the 2027 season and am eligible to begin competing in PGA TOUR… pic.twitter.com/LFq61njCrh

— Patrick Reed (@PReedGolf) January 28, 2026

In a statement, LIV Golf said it was not able to come to terms with Reed on a potential contract extension.

Reed is a nine-time PGA Tour winner who won once on the LIV Golf League. He’s ranked 29th in the Official World Golf Ranking and has no current status on the PGA Tour aside from being a past champion. He can accept sponsor invites into fall events and compete as a non-member, which also allows him to attempt to qualify via Mondays.

In 2027, he will be eligible to reinstate his membership and can play out of the past champion’s category. But his best avenue is via the DP World Tour’s exemption for the top 10 players on the Race to Dubai who are not otherwise exempt. Reed is currently second in the Race to Dubai and is playing his third straight DP World Tour event this week at the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship.

“As a result of resigning his membership in 2022 prior to violating any PGA Tour Regulations, Patrick is eligible to compete on the PGA Tour as a non-member beginning on August 25, 2026,” the Tour in a statement. “He may also pursue improved PGA Tour status via the DP World Tour.

“Similar to anyone reinstated under the Returning Member Program, any former PGA Tour member returning to the PGA Tour would be ineligible for participation in the Player Equity Program through 2030.”

Five players have now left LIV Golf while looking to return to the Tour

Reed joins four others who have left LIV Golf and are seeking a place on the PGA Tour, all with different specifications.

Five-time major winner Koepka is back under the Returning Member Program announced on Jan. 12, and he’s competing this week in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Pat Perez, who last played for LIV Golf in 2024 but worked LIV broadcasts last year, has been reinstated but is not allowed to compete until Jan. 1, 2027. Perez had hoped to come back sooner as he turns 50 on March 1. He will be able to play in three PGA Tour Champions majors.

Hudson Swafford also last played LIV Golf in 2024. He’s been reinstated on the PGA Tour but can’t compete until Jan. 1, 2027.

The Tour did not say so in its release, but the penalties associated with Perez and Swafford are likely due, in part, to lawsuits the two were part of against the Tour in 2022.

Kevin Na is another player who has sought to return to the PGA Tour and has been reinstated. He was a captain of LIV’s former team known as the Iron Heads, which recently signed Ben An to be the newly branded team’s captain. But the Tour said Na’s return status is unresolved.

Former LIV Golf captain Kevin Na has been reinstated by the PGA Tour but his return status is unresolved. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Koepka, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Smith are the only players who would qualify to come back to the PGA Tour via the Returning Member Program. It stipulates that a LIV player must have won a major between 2022 and 2025.

“There are several factors that may impact the timeline for a player who participated in unauthorized tournaments to return, and what access they may have upon return, if they don’t meet the criteria for the Returning Member Program,” the Tour’s Tyler Dennis and Jason Gore said in a memo to the membership. “Such factors include application of the non-member policy concerning unauthorized tournaments, the number of outstanding disciplinary actions, if any, and eligibility for membership and exempt status, if any, based upon prior play. Each situation is consistently evaluated under our existing regulations and policies.”

Reed, who lives in Houston, has a tournament in Kenya, two in South Africa, one in China and one in India as his choices to play on the DP World Tour prior to the Masters.