Ex-LIV Golf star reveals date of PGA Tour return at The Open: "They removed my ankle bracelet"

Former LIV Golf captain Henrik Stenson has revealed he'll return to the PGA Tour next month on the over-50s circuit. 

The Swede was among the early wave of players to be recruited by the breakaway tour in 2022. 

His decision to do so cost him the European Ryder Cup captaincy but reportedly saw him pocket north of $50m. 

Stenson, 50, was relegated from the LIV Golf League last season and it wasn't immediately clear what his plans were.

He has kept a low-profile this year so far, teeing it up in a handful of tournaments such as the Senior PGA Championship, U.S. Senior Open and also the Barbados Legends hosted by former Masters champion Ian Woosnam. 

But the big Swede revealed after rolling back the years with a superb two-under 68 in round one of The Open at Royal Birkdale that he'll feature on the PGA Tour Champions from next month. 

"So, from end of August, they removed my ankle bracelet, and I'll be out of that one-year probation," he said. 

"I played the last LIV event 24th of August last year. 

"So I'm kind of reinstated as a member, and I'm free to play PGA Tour sanctioned tournaments from the 25th of August this year."

He added: "I'm playing some Champions events and some bits and pieces on the back end of the schedule. 

"So I'll probably get to 13, 14 tournaments when it's all said and done at this point.

"Could be something in Europe, and there will be one in Asia as well. 

"Even if you're playing a little bit less of a schedule, you've still got to work on those air miles and make sure you're keeping gold status somewhere."

Stenson won The Open in 2016 after an all-time battle with Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon. 

He joked that his victory felt nine-and-a-half years ago "at most". 

"I mean, time flies, as we know, waits for no one," he said. 

"Sometimes it feels like it certainly was a decade ago. 

"With other things, yeah, you feel like maybe it was a little more recent.

"At least when you hit a 5-iron to six feet to make it on the last, you probably feel like it wasn't that long ago."

His opening round at the final men's major of the year was nearly flawless, with the golfer making a silly double bogey at the 11th despite finding the fairway and having a gap wedge in hand for his approach. 

"Other than that, it was pretty good," said Stenson.

"Hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, which is kind of what the doctor ordered. 

"I think with the benign conditions, they tuck the pins quite close to the edges on a lot of holes."