On Tuesday at the captains’ press conference promoting the 2026 LIV Golf season, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith rejected the standing offer to rejoin the PGA Tour (at least for now).
While that muted speculation about whether one of those star players would follow Brooks Koepka back to the Tour through the new Returning Member Program, another former LIV pro did make the jump, albeit by a very different pathway.
That player is Pat Perez.
Perez, who turns 50 in March, captured three PGA Tour victories over the course of a lengthy career. His most recent win came at the 2017 CIMB Classic.
But midway through 2022, Perez ditched the Tour for LIV Golf. He joined up with Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces team, with which he won a team title (and a sizable bonus) in 2022. Perez struggled in 2024 and lost his spot in LIV. But only as a player. In 2025, he acted as an on-course reporter at LIV events.
On Tuesday, the PGA Tour confirmed to Sports Illustrated that Perez had been reinstated as a PGA Tour member, though he’s ineligible to play in “affiliated” tournaments for now.
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“At his request, Pat Perez was reinstated as a member but is not eligible to participate in PGA Tour-affiliated tournaments at this time,” the Tour statement read.
In the PGA Tour’s eyes, Perez’s LIV TV duties were no different than playing on LIV, so Perez faces fines and a suspension from Tour events. And because he did not win a major from 2022-2025, as Koepka did, he is not eligible for the Returning Member Program.
“Players that do not qualify for the Returning Member Program can only be reinstated in accordance with the nonmember policy and any applicable disciplinary process.”
In other words, Perez, who has designs on playing the PGA Tour Champions after his 50th birthday, won’t be able to play immediately like Koepka. Unfortunately, we don’t know what specific penalties or playing restrictions Perez will face. That’s because the Tour’s statement about Perez’s return also declared, “the PGA Tour does not comment on disciplinary matters.”
That, of course, came just one day after PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp commented extensively on Koepka’s disciplinary measures.
The big question after Koepka’s PGA Tour return was announced was whether any other star LIV players would take the Returning Member Program offer. The offer is only available to DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith.
DeChambeau is far and away the biggest star playing on LIV Golf. The source of his immense popularity stretches beyond his two U.S. Open wins and viral YouTube hijinks. Whether they love him or hate him, golf fans want to watch DeChambeau play.
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Were he to jump back to the Tour, it would be a devastating blow to LIV. DeChambeau had a little fun with things earlier on Tuesday, when he posted a photo of himself on Instagram standing next to an Exit sign with a cryptic message that read, “What would you do?”
But when asked about it in his LIV press conference, DeChambeau confirmed he would stay on LIV Golf this season, though it wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of a long LIV future.
“I mean, look, I’m contracted through 2026, so I’m excited about this year,” he said on Tuesday.
The window to apply to the Tour’s Returning Player Program ends February 2, 2026, and it is intended to be a one-time offer. We’ll see if that changes when DeChambeau’s contract expires next year.
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