It remains to be seen whether LIV golfers will be able to return to the PGA Tour as part of a peace deal, but Wyndham Clark has outlined one key condition for those wanting to make a comeback
Wyndham Clark believes members of LIV Golf should only be able to return to the PGA Tour if they have previously contributed to the circuit, opening the door for the likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson.
Those who made the move to the LIV setup have since been banned from competing on the PGA Tour, in what has proven to be an ugly period for men’s professional golf. There are hopes these tensions will soon come to an end, after the Tour announced a framework agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia last June.
Since then, negotiations have been ongoing between the two sides, with one big talking point centred around how LIV players will be able to integrate back into PGA Tour events.
Those involved have remained tight-lipped over how this could happen, but PGA Tour star Clark has outlined one strict condition. “I think it depends on who it is,” he told the No Laying Up Podcast at the possibility of players from the Saudi-backed circuit making a comeback.
“I think guys that have had the career where they should be lifelong PGA Tour players, I think they deserve the right to come play the PGA Tour.” Of course many on the LIV roster have done exactly that, no more so than 45-time Tour winner Mickelson, who initially led the exodus t o the LIV setup.
Welcoming back Micklson and co, Clark went on: “If Dustin Johnson wants to come back and Phil Mickelson and guys that have won, Brooks [Koepka], who have won majors and are most likely hall of famers, they deserve to play wherever the hell they want, because they’re so good.”
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When it comes to those with somewhat of a lesser pedigree though, Clark’s stance proved much different. “I think guys that maybe left and didn’t have that pedigree and career. I think those are the guys I struggle with because they made their decision. So they chose to go play there, take the money. I think that’s what a lot of us wrestle with.”
Clark went on to admit that he among many offers turned down the chance to sign a lucrative deal with the LIV brand, instead remaining loyal to the PGA Tour. Looking back, the former US Open champion believes that if he and his fellow stars would have had the chance to return, they he too would have made the Saudi switch.
“If we 100 percent knew we could take the money and come back, then we all would have done that,” Clark commented. “Because we all would’ve been way richer and then you come back and actually play at the highest level.”
