LIV Golf rebels Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka(Getty Images)
Wyndham Clark has outlined when he believes LIV Golf rebels should be allowed to return to the PGA Tour, with Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson all banned
Wyndham Clark insists that only previous contributors to the PGA Tour should make a comeback from LIV Golf, potentially welcoming back Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson to the fold.
Having defected to the lucrative LIV framework, a number of golf stars faced a ban but an initial agreement has been reached over a merger with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund last June.
Both parties have remained coy over the progress of talks but Clark divulged his views during his No Laying Up Podcast chat, suggesting re-entry may be merit-based: “I think it depends on who it is,” hinting at reintegration chances for players attached to the controversial Saudi-funded league.
“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.” Many of the LIV participants, notably the tour veteran Mickelson who spearheaded the shift away from the PGA.
Welcoming Mickelson and his fellow golfers, Clark said: “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.
“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.”
Additionally, Clark revealed that he personally declined an offer from LIV, choosing to stay with the PGA Tour, and pondered retrospectively: “If we 100 percent knew we could take the money and come back, then we all would have done that. Because we all would’ve been way richer and then you come back and actually play at the highest level.”
