PGA Tour veteran makes bold claim regarding LIV Golf's players

Webb Simpson had added fuel to the LIV vs PGA Tour fire with his recent remarks regarding a potential return to PGA Tour action for LIV defectors.

Johnny Percival

28 Feb 2024

Webb Simpson provided a hot take when questioned about a potential merger between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

Simpson, 38, is a member of the PGA Tour's policy board, which means he has more insight than most when it comes to how a merger between the PIF and the PGA Tour could pan out.

If the merger were to go through, it remains unclear what would happen with the LIV Golf League and whether or not its players could potentially see a return to PGA Tour action.

Several high-profile players on the premier American circuit have voiced their desire for LIV defectors to receive some sort of punishment if they were to return, with Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Scottie Scheffler leading the charge.

Despite having been a vocal critic of the LIV Golf League in the past, Rory McIlroy recently completed a sensational U-turn on his position, admitting that it would be difficult to punish players who wished to rejoin the Tour.

Having signed incredibly lucrative contracts to join the breakaway Tour, LIV players are now facing the consequences of their actions, with the lack of OWGR points on offer to LIV events now preventing players from competing in the four majors of the year.

Talor Gooch has said via Australian Golf Digest that if Rory McIlroy completes the career Grand Slam, it will have an asterisk as not all the best players in the world have competed against him pic.twitter.com/alLgiCEMBy
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) February 27, 2024

Most notably, Talor Gooch recently confirmed his disappointment not to have been invited to The Masters and made a bold claim that if McIlroy were to win the event, there would need to be an asterisk by the victory.

Related: Rory McIlroy goes easy on Talor Gooch then daggers him with final line

Simpson had his say on the debate yesterday while speaking to GolfWeek when he claimed the number of LIV players he believed would be of interest to the PGA Tour is actually quite small.

He said:

“What we’re really talking about is probably six players (who will be desirable to the Tour). The rest will have to go to Q-school or if they want to do something on the DP World Tour.”

Despite boasting big names like Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith and most recently, Jon Rahm, it appears that as far as Simpson is concerned, only a small selection of the 53-man LIV roster would be of interest to the PGA Tour.

Simpson's suggestion that Q-School or DP World Tour participation might be necessary for the majority of players ties in nicely with the position Fowler, Scheffler and Thomas hold.

Related: Scottie Scheffler comes down hard on potential PGA Tour return for LIV Golf pros

Covering a number of topics in the interview, Simpson also confirmed that he is still keen on PIF being involved with the PGA Tour but admitted he doesn't quite know what the resulting product would look like.

He added:

“I’d love to work out a deal with the PIF and let them come in as an investor and I don’t know what that looks like, maybe it’s FedEx Cup from January through August and then we have some fun in the fall, whether that’s what we currently have plus a few team events. I have no idea. That’s something that we talked about, we’ve got to get going on, really diving in and seeing what could work.”

Questioned about the desires of PIF and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Simpson went on to say:

“We’re not sure yet. I do think Yasir loves the idea of team golf or the idea of franchises. And, you know, that’s something any good company is going to listen to its investors or potential investors and see why they want what they want.

"And so that’s something that we need to do. We as players, we should probably have a conversation with Yasir and figure out what it is he wants. And I think that conversation should be sooner rather than later."

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