Watson's call for lifetime bans shows PGA Tour-LIV scars still run deep

There was a certain irony when Patrick Reed topped the leaderboard early on the opening day of the Masters.

A LIV defector in the throes of returning to the PGA Tour, Reed's bolt came shortly after golfing legend Tom Watson sharply criticised the decision to allow him - and Brooks Koepka - back into the fold.

Watson, an eight-time major winner and PGA Tour loyalist, believes those tempted away by the riches of the Saudi-backed LIV revolution should be forever ostracised.

A lifetime ban is a punishment worthy of the perceived crime, he still believes.

"If I was commissioner, that's what I would do," said the 76-year-old American.

Watson's denunciation shows the scars of golf's so-called civil war, which started in 2022 when LIV started luring star names away from the PGA Tour with enormous pots of cash, still run deep.

Since the PGA Tour and DP World Tour announced in 2023 that they had agreed to a merger with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls LIV, several olive branches have been offered and accepted - even if there is still no sign of the union coming to fruition.

American pair Koepka and Reed being granted a return to the status quo of the US-based tour has been the latest piece of evidence - even if Watson does not agree with it.

Koepka, 35, has been welcomed back to the PGA Tour after applying for reinstatement under a new 'Returning Member Programme', facilitated for those who had won a major - or The Players Championship - since 2022.

The five-time major champion also smoothed his return by paying fines said to be worth around £63m.

Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, did not match the same criteria for reinstatement as Koepka and cannot regain his membership until January 2027.

However, he will be eligible to play on the PGA Tour again this coming August, a year after his final LIV appearance.

Watson claims the PGA Tour has "made a decision to renege" on what they promised to those who stayed loyal.

"When the players left, they violated the number one rule, which is to protect the sponsors," said the 1977 and 1981 Masters champion.

"Sponsors need players. They need the names to be able to promote their tournaments.

"When the players left for LIV, I think it was basically over.

"They chose to go for the money, which is fine. To return to the Tour, I thought, was a nonstarter. Apparently it's not."