Ian Poulter hasn’t ruled out there being PGA Tour represented teams on the LIV Golf League circuit.
The team aspect to LIV Golf has been key to the brand since its inception in 2022 and Poulter, the co-captain of the Majestics, believes there is space to expand the number of teams to even include setups from the PGA Tour.
“There’s an opportunity to have two or three more teams in LIV,” Poulter told The Rough Cut Golf Podcast. “Why couldn’t they be PGA Tour teams? Why couldn’t you give 12 players – the top 12 or the 12 who want to play a certain number of events?
“The PGA Tour are shortening the schedule. They need to monetise their business as soon as possible. Brian Rolapp has said the TV deal is up for negotiation.
“They want to reduce some of the tournaments. They want those events to be big events so everyone can play the same events. The investment made into the PGA Tour – they want this thing to make money.
“There’s a lot of stress and pressure to the PGA Tour for them to make this make money. I don’t have the perfect fix but we could take in three more teams so surely there’s a bit of give and take on both sides to a point to go, surely there’s space for 12 guys- not just four – to be able to play in a chunk of tournaments on the PGA Tour.”
On the topic of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf ending their dispute and coming to an agreement where both tours can co-exist, Brooks Koepka was a high profile player to leave LIV for the PGA Tour via the Returning Member Program.
However, Poulter doesn’t feel that the likes of Koepka and Patrick Reed returning go the PGA Tour is going to be the watershed moment in golf’s civil war. Speculation has also been rife over the futures of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau whose contracts expire at the end of the current campaign.
“What did they really open up?” the Majesticks man questioned “They gave an opportunity to four players and four players only.
“That’s not really opening up. You’ll only take back players – Brooks, five majors, Cam Smith, who’s won The Players Championship and the Open Championship. You would take back Bryson DeChambeau, and you gave the opportunity to Jon Rahm. F*** everyone else.
“We just wanted the biggest four assets that we can nick back from LIV and we don’t want any of you lot.
“How does that look? I don’t think it looks very good. It’s a mercenary way to turn around to say we’ll just scoop a load of your assets back or try to scoop a load of them back. There’s a still a fight. That’s a hostile offer in my opinion.”
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