Tom Watson hits out at PGA Tour and calls for tougher punishments for LIV Golf League players being allowed to return
The PGA Tour welcomed Brooks Koepka back in January under the Returning Member Program, with Patrick Reed also set to feature later this year; Tom Watson had his say about LIV Golf players returning in his Honorary Starts press conference at The Masters
Thursday 9 April 2026 16:14, UK
Former major champion Tom Watson has criticised the PGA Tour for allowing players who left the tour for the rival LIV Golf League the chance to return.
The PGA Tour created a programme to offer a route back for a limited group of 'elite performers', with Brooks Koepka taking advantage of the Returning Member Program after parting ways with the Saudi-backed circuit at the end of last season.
Koepka agreed - at the PGA Tour's request - to make a $5m (£3.7m) charitable donation as part of his reinstatement, which came at the Farmers Insurance Open in January, while Patrick Reed is also set to return after leaving LIV Golf earlier this year.
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"The [PGA] Tour made a decision to renege on what they promised when the players left for LIV," Watson said in his Honorary Starters press conference at The Masters. "They felt that the compensation that he [Koepka] paid is good enough.
"I thought the LIV players, when they left, they were supposed to be banned for life?! If I was commissioner, that's what I would do.
"I'd say if you're finished with your contract with LIV Golf, if you want to play the PGA Tour again, you come back, and you must play the Korn Ferry Tour for a year to qualify for it. They saw it differently."
The Returning Member Program - created by PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp - was also offered to Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, who all remain on LIV Golf, while Reed will return after serving a one-year suspension from his last LIV Golf appearance.
"When the players left, they violated the number one rule that we really had out here, which is to protect the sponsors," Watson added. "Sponsors need players. They need the names to be able to promote their tournaments.
"If the players play wherever they want to play without a conflicting event rule, where you had to seek the permission of the PGA Tour to play in a tournament opposite of a PGA Tour tournament, the sponsors would be hurt by that. I think we all understood that.
"When the players left for LIV, I think it was basically over. They chose to go for the money, which is fine, but to return to the PGA [Tour], I thought, was a non-starter, but apparently, it's not."
'I wanted that adrenaline back' - Reed explains LIV Golf departure
Reed confirmed his LIV Golf departure just days before the start of the 2026 season, with the 2018 Masters champion set to play on the DP World Tour until he is eligible to make his PGA Tour.
"The best players in the world and the deepest fields from top to bottom are on the PGA Tour," Reed said in his pre-tournament press conference. "I wanted that adrenaline back
"I've played now every tour. I've played on every single one of them. That's the place that I feel like is best for us to go and compete against the top guys year in and year out, week in and week out."
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