{"id":56103,"date":"2026-08-25T23:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T23:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/56103\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T23:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T23:04:08","slug":"rolapp-says-he-will-lean-on-pga-tour-rules-when-contemplating-return-of-liv-players-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/56103\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolapp says he will lean on PGA Tour rules when contemplating return of LIV players"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA \u2013 PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp offered a path back to a small number of LIV Golf players<\/a> at the start of the year with a tight deadline to accept it and a warning that \u201conce the door closes, there is no promise that this path will be available again.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s a hot topic now that the LIV Golf League is done with its shortened season<\/a>. The speculation is just starting to ramp up on which players might be wanting back, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau chief among them.<\/p>\n

Brooks Koepka mutually ended his contract with LIV Golf when he left at the end of 2025<\/a>, and that would be a starting point now.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who\u2019s interested in coming to the PGA Tour needs to demonstrate that they are relieved of their contractual commitments or any tail obligations they might have in that legacy model,\u201d Rolapp said Tuesday. \u201cBrooks certainly did that, and until then, we weren\u2019t really able to consider anything seriously. I would say the same thing here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any path back does not sound like a smooth one. Along with preaching meritocracy, Rolapp brought up rules that applied to the players who bolted for LIV Golf with big signing bonuses. LIV players typically have been banned from PGA Tour-sanctioned events for one year from the time of their last LIV appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tour is a membership organization. It has rules. Those rules exist for lots of reasons \u2014 for fair, competitive reasons,\u201d Rolapp said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRules only matter if they\u2019re enforced,\u201d he said. \u201cSo accountability and discipline are essential to any organization, and certainly for the integrity of the tour and for the game, especially in a game that prides itself on rules and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Si Woo Kim having a big year without winning<\/p>\n

One of the popular topics for years was looking at the list of players who have earned more than $10 million in their PGA Tour careers without ever winning.<\/p>\n

Si Woo Kim is on the verge of passing $10 million in one year without winning. He is at $9,735,444, assured of going over the mark because last place at the Tour Championship<\/a> pays $355,000.<\/p>\n

There hasn’t been many last-place finishes for the 31-year-old South Korean.<\/p>\n

He has been runner-up three times this year, most recently in the first FedEx Cup playoff event<\/a> (by eight shots to Scottie Scheffler). He has 11 finishes in the top 10 \u2014 only Scheffler has more \u2014 and his only missed cut was at the U.S. Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the best year for me, like all my golf career,\u201d Kim said. \u201cI\u2019ve been playing so much consistently this year. I haven\u2019t won yet, but even if not win, I still like the way I finished this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest change has been his putting, going to a long putter. It’s still well below average \u2014 he ranks No. 106 in the key putting stat \u2014 but it’s his highest ranking in that category, and a big improvement from being No. 161 last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was struggling with the putting yips pretty much the last 10 years,\u201d he said. \u201cLike shaking hands during putting. First year I got broomstick I won Sony Open after Presidents Cup. Now without the putting yips I think I can play good.\u201d<\/p>\n

He’s still not able to take down Scheffler in their money games at Royal Oaks in Dallas. Kim beat him once at the start of the year, but they played another match and Scheffler got it all back. Kim was asked if he could estimate how much he has lost to the world’s No. 1 player this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t say how much I lost, but I think I\u2019m paying for his second son, all the diapers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rookie of the year could come to Tour Championship<\/p>\n

The PGA Tour Player of the Year award is getting plenty of attention going into the Tour Championship. Scottie Scheffler was a leading contender until Wyndham Clark won the BMW Championship<\/a>, giving him three wins, including a major. Scheffler has two wins but leads most of the major statistical categories.<\/p>\n

Another race could be decided at East Lake. Kristoffer Reitan of Norway and Alex Fitzpatrick of England are the only two PGA Tour rookies to reach the Tour Championship.<\/p>\n

Reitan won a signature event at the Truist Championship<\/a> at Quail Hollow. Fitzpatrick didn’t have a PGA Tour card until he teamed with his older brother, 2023 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fitzpatrick since then, however, has had four top 10s, all against some of the strongest fields in the signature events. Reitan has two other top 10s beyond the Truist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say maybe it all comes down to this week,\u201d Fitzpatrick said. “But truthfully it\u2019s not something that I\u2019ve really thought about that much. I think with everything else that\u2019s gone on this year, to be here has been amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever happens this week between me and him, whoever is the Rookie of the Year is amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve both had great years, and we\u2019ll both be proud no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson Koivun also is a rookie and won the 3M Open<\/a>, but his body of work didn\u2019t start until he turned pro at the Canadian Open in early June.<\/p>\n

Money matters<\/p>\n

The race to replace Tiger Woods atop the PGA Tour career earnings is now a two-way race, with Scottie Scheffler still having the advantage.<\/p>\n

Scheffler is $608,506 away from passing Woods, who has led the career earnings list since Feb. 13, 2000. That would require a minimum of 13th place at the Tour Championship, where the $40 million purse now counts as official money instead of a bonus.<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy, who picked up $1.36 million for his third-place finish at the BMW Championship last week, needs to make $3,150,795 at the Tour Championship to pass Woods. That would require a minimum of fourth place.<\/p>\n

Divots<\/p>\n

Preston Stout of Oklahoma State will get exemptions to the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the British Open at St. Andrews for winning the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading male in the 2026 World Amateur Golf Ranking. Playing them requires that he remain an amateur. … The new PGA Tour schedule in 2028 will be a lot more compact, freeing up the latter part of the year for the European tour and some of the national opens. Patrick Cantlay is not one who sounds terribly interested in going. \u201cI do think the fall is a nice time for Europe to have their biggest events, but for me right now, the offseason is key in feeling fresh and ready to go, especially when I imagine a schedule that\u2019s even more golf over a shorter period of time,\u201d he said. … Getting to the Tour Championship means Adam Scott’s streak playing in the majors, assuming he stays healthy, will reach at least 106 in a row. He’s at 101. He is assured of all four majors next year and the Masters (past champion) in 2028.<\/p>\n

Stat of the week<\/p>\n

The Solheim Cup between the United States and Europe will feature only 13 of the top 50 players currently in the women’s world ranking.<\/p>\n

Final word<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I don\u2019t get love at the Presidents Cup as a USA guy, then I don\u2019t know. I might move to Mexico or something.\u201d \u2014 Wyndham Clark, joking about crowds who always seem to pull for the other guy.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

\nSee AP\u2019s full golf coverage here<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA \u2013 PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp offered a path back to a small number of LIV Golf…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[495,1679,1339,209,87,3265,528,2194,1399,1747,8345,399,208,354,56,1142,424],"class_list":["post-56103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scottie-scheffler","tag-adam-scott","tag-alex-fitzpatrick","tag-brian-rolapp","tag-brooks-koepka","tag-bryson-dechambeau","tag-jackson-koivun","tag-jon-rahm","tag-kristoffer-reitan","tag-matt-fitzpatrick","tag-patrick-cantlay","tag-preston-stout","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-scottie-scheffler","tag-si-woo-kim","tag-sports","tag-tiger-woods","tag-wyndham-clark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}