Should LIV Golf Players Be Allowed Back On The PGA Tour?

With talk of Brooks Koepka's possible 'buyer's remorse' we've now turned to the possibility of whether those players who have decamped to LIV Golf should be allowed back to the PGA Tour if they wanted.

As things stand the LIV golfers are still permitted to play on the DP World Tour and the majors but the PGA Tour is out of bounds. Their position hasn't changed and this week we've seen the defending champion, Cam Smith, not being eligible to play in The Players at Sawgrass.

Matt Fitzpatrick is the current US Open champion and he has always stuck to his guns about where he plans to play his golf though he does have conflicting views on the Ryder Cup.

"My personal view is that you can't have your cake and eat it," Fitzpatrick told Sky Sports News. "I would not let people come back if they had gone to LIV, I just wouldn't. Don't get me wrong, they could turn around and say you can come and play LIV if you want, but I don't want to do that. I want to stay here and I want to play DP World Tour and PGA Tour.

"I think it is incredibly unfair for the PGA Tour to do that [allow them back] and I would be staggered if they did allow them. I think if you spoke to Tiger Woods then he would probably have the same stance, although I don't know what other guys would have. If you have left the Tour that you have been on for so long and done so well then you have left for something you think is better, even if it maybe is not always greener."

As for the Ryder Cup Fitzpatrick has a different viewpoint. Thomas Pieters is the most recent player to jump ship and LIV Golf is full of Ryder Cup stars, the majority of them who would unlikely make the team on merit. They can still earn points from the events that they're eligible for but a more likely route would be as one of Luke Donald's six captain's picks.

"Obviously I have just said there about not letting them back on the PGA Tour or DP World Tour, I completely agree with that, but the Ryder Cup is a completely different case. For me, I would want the 12 best players on the team. Hopefully I am one of those, to try and win win. That is what the goal should be, to try and win, not to be nice about who should be playing in my opinion."

The current World No. 7 Max Homa was also asked about LIV players returning to their original base and he also had some mixed views.

"My selfish, petty side would be really frustrated, because I have not been annoyed at anyone leaving," Homa said. "It's your own choice and you have to do what you believe you should do. I'm totally cool with that.

"I'm not super close with a ton of guys, but like it does feel like we're all kind of in this together to push competitive golf and push the game forward. I think my petty side would be a little bit annoyed, but also kind of smiling underneath thinking welcome back to what you could have just been doing.

"I think my unselfish side and my realistic side is that as I just mentioned, all of those guys that you can name that left are great for golf. Champion golfers, interesting golfers, so many great stories across their careers. I think if I could put my selfish part aside and maybe my and put on my big-boy hat, I would realise that having them back would be a good thing for golf at large."