McIlroy warns LIV golfers of hard road back to PGA Tour

Masters champion Rory McIlroy has warned it could be a "tough road back" for LIV Golf players who may be eyeing a return to the PGA Tour, and questioned what value they would offer the US-based circuit.

McIlroy, speaking ahead of this week's BMW Championship, was asked if players returning from LIV Golf would bring value to the PGA Tour.

"I mean, I would argue, have they brought value to LIV?" McIlroy said at Bellerive Country Club in St Louis, Missouri. "I think the PGA Tour's in a really good spot."

LIV Golf is wrapping up its 2026 season this week near Indianapolis and announced this month it had secured a lead investor to provide a financial boost as it prepares for a future without backing from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

It remains unclear, however, whether major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Australia's Cameron Smith, among LIV Golf's biggest draws, will stay on with the rebel circuit beyond this season or seek a return to the PGA Tour.

Brooks Koepka took advantage of a limited-time Returning Member Program in early 2026 to rejoin the PGA Tour after leaving LIV Golf in December.

DeChambeau, Rahm and former British Open champion Smith were also eligible to return under the same Returning Member Program that closed on February 2 after a three-week application window.

McIlroy said he was pretty certain any other returning players would not be welcomed back straight away.

"If they were offered this returning member program back in February, the one that Brooks took, then, yeah, maybe. But that has sort of come and gone," McIlroy said.

"And I think it was said at the time that the deal that they might get going forward, if they do decide to come back, isn't going to be as good as the one that Brooks got. So, yeah, I would say it's going to be a tough, tough road back."