Harris English says what punishment any LIV golfers wanting to return to PGA Tour should get

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Harris English has suggested the severity of the punishment that any LIV Golf player should face before they are allowed to return to the PGA Tour.

There is a large question mark hanging over LIV Golf heading into the rest of the 2026 season. Of course, they are searching for new investors with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia set to withdraw their financial support.

It appears entirely likely that some names will walk away. The days of LIV as we currently know it are surely numbered.

Harris English suggests the sanctions LIV players should face if they return to the PGA Tour

While Anirban Lahiri claimed a dozen LIV players would rather retire than return to the PGA Tour, it seems inevitable that some will look to come back.

Bryson DeChambeau’s management spoke to PGA Tour officials during The Masters to understand what a potential pathway would look like. And it is hard to imagine that he would have been the only one.

The discussion then centres around what penalties they should face. Brooks Koepka had to accept a number of punishments, including a $5 million donation to charity, and the fact that he has to earn his way back before he can play in any signature events.

Speaking on the Golf Channel this week, Harris English suggested that no one should be offered an easy route back to the PGA Tour.

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“Obviously Rolapp and the higher-ups are going to put together a plan when all that comes to a head,” he said.

“Those LIV players are still under contract, so from his perspective, he’s not really thinking about that. He’s thinking about how can we make the PGA Tour better.

“Obviously, Brooks made a jump a few months ago and was the first one to do it, and he had some pretty heavy consequences. They kind of opened up a transfer window. Other LIV guys didn’t do it, they didn’t want to come back when the ship was still going. So we’ll see what happens.

“In my opinion, the punishment should be either what Brooks got or even harsher because he was the first one to stick his neck out, coming off of LIV and making that jump, so he got the best of both worlds.”

How LIV Golf players could provide a boost to the PGA Tour’s plans to build a second tier

There has been plenty of debate surrounding the players that the PGA Tour should actually want back if LIV Golf does disappear altogether.

The Returning Member Program opened the door for the likes of Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Cam Smith to follow Koepka back.

Crucially, no one else was presented with the same opportunity. Patrick Reed has spent the season on the DP World Tour to try and ensure that he has a PGA Tour card for 2027.

There is an argument that no one on LIV would transform the PGA Tour. While Rahm and DeChambeau would be smart additions, they would not change the game by any means.

So where some of those LIV players with a lower profile may help the PGA Tour is when the second tier of the tour is launched in the coming years.

Having some notable names in those events will help establish some credibility. Meanwhile, it will ensure that those returning from LIV cannot go into the marquee events straight away.

There should certainly be further sanctions for those players. But that may be one way that the PGA Tour can ensure that it benefits if there is a sudden exodus.