LIV Golf: Which players will be next to join the breakaway tour?

With both Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau due to make their LIV debut in Portland this week, speculation is rife as to who will be next to boost their bank balance and make the jump from the PGA Tour. 

To his credit, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has finally reacted with some reforms in the shape of a return to a calendar-year schedule (beginning 2024) and increases in winnings for select events but will it be enough? 

You say it best, when you say nothing at all

Patrick Cantlay 

Despite being ranked number seven in the world, Cantlay wouldn’t be one to get the golf pulse racing but nevertheless he has to be towards the top of Greg Norman’s recruitment rankings. When asked at a presser prior to the Travelers Championship whether he’d been made an offer, he gave new meaning to noncommittal.. 

“My team handles all that kind of stuff, whether it be just any of the sponsors that I have or anything in that department. I haven’t had any direct contact with them recently. So I really, you know, I don’t have anything like that outstanding.”

A Sunday meltdown at TPC River Highlands for ‘Patty Ice’ last weekend could well be the catalyst to an exit through the PGA gift shop. 

Verdict: Likely to walk the plank

Matt Kuchar

Kooch has been relatively radio silent on golf’s hottest topic but was quoted in March at the Valspar on the matter… 

“At first, I think a lot of people thought they won’t get started or if they do get started it’ll be a failure. Now I think the fear is if they do get started and if it does go smoothly, I think they’ll probably get some defectors.’’

Now after that caddie episode, he’d have to be fairly high on anyone’s list to take a lucrative offer from LIV. And he definitely fits the profile of many of the defectors in so much as he’s an ageing pro who could benefit from playing a reduced schedule. His performances at the Valero and RBC this season show that the fire still burns; it really could be a wise move, both financially and professionally. 

Verdict: Should be pushing his way to the front of the queue

Maybe I'll finally win one of these things?

Tony Finau

It’s hard not to go over trodden ground here but the PGA Tour’s perennial bridesmaid continues to perform with aplomb… just without actually getting over the line in front. Sure he may have won the Northern Trust last year but Finau will always be ‘T2 Tony’ and it’s hard to ignore the fact that, like Kuchar, a change of pace might just suit the world number 17. 

“I mean, yeah, I’ve been approached just like I think most top guys, as you would expect…I don’t have a stance on it yet.” (Tony Finau - Golf Monthly)

Perhaps his recent runner-up performance at the Canadian Open when duelling with old pal Rory McIlroy will extend his love affair with the Tour but it does feel like he could be in line to make the jump before the season is out. It’s also worth noting that he’s previously opted to play in Saudi Arabia (finished T2 - surprise - in the 2021 Saudi International) during Tour weeks. 

Verdict: Sometimes, the grass is greener on the other side

We'll go down with the ship

Rory McIlroy / Jordan Spieth / Will Zalatoris

As members of the 2022 PGA Tour Player Advisory Council (McIlroy is Chairman), you’d think making the switch would be nigh on impossible however Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell have both poured cold water on that theory.

McIlroy has been arguably the most outspoken player on the matter and clearly has absolutely no intention of leaving, for all that his hand may be forced if there’s a swathe of high-profile exits. Spieth has been quieter but you’d assume his stance will be the same as good-friend Justin Thomas and won’t be going anywhere in the immediate.

Zalatoris has pledged his allegiance and he’s arguably the most vital piece of the PGA Tour puzzle at present being ‘the best player in the world yet to win on tour/a Major’. There’s no real telling if his head could be turned but for the moment he’s holding firm… Let’s face it, a win could make all the difference. 

"To see guys jump ship, it's not like we're slumming here, this is a pretty great life that we have. The guys on LIV, no disrespect to them, but they've obviously earned their way out here and they were given a gift. What happens without the PGA Tour? They wouldn't be there.” (Will Zalatoris - Sky Sports)

A pertinent point in relation to this group will be the stance of the Major Championships, we’ve already seen both the USGA and R&A allow the LIV exiles to tee off at the US Open and forthcoming British Open. How will Augusta National react next year? Only time… and likely the size of Greg Norman’s seemingly infinite cheque book… will tell…

Verdict: Last out the door