It’s a question the PGA Tour seems more likely to face with every passing week: Should LIV golfers be allowed back on the PGA Tour? But it might not be the question that we should be asking, says PGA Tour veteran Jerry Kelly.
In an interview with GOLF’s Subpar, Kelly expressed his belief that the Tour won’t ever have to make a decision about what should happen to LIV golfers, because, he says, the lawyers will make that decision for them.
“Are you allowing the LIV guys back at some point?” he said .”If they decide they want to come back to the PGA Tour? Right? I think you legally have to.”
Kelly also proposed a year-long suspension for LIV players after the last event they played, after which they would be eligible to return to the Tour. But he acknowledged that the issue of money would need to be addressed.
“I don’t know if that’s the case, but in my mind so you throw a time limit on that suspension,” he said. “He’s already kind of made it a year. So there’s your year suspension after the last event that you play. And then you come back to the question is, are they able to retain their career money?”
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Kelly also raised concerns about the impact of LIV’s guaranteed money offers on loyal PGA Tour players who have turned down similar offers. He suggested that there may need to be some sort of monetary give-back, perhaps to pension funds, to ease the concerns of these players.
“You know, the way you come back is guys who don’t have any other avenues, I mean, Dustin Johnson has won 20 times. He’s got a suspension, Phil. That’s the other side of these guys leaving them you know, following the big guys that may have avenues back.”
Kelly acknowledged that the issue was a complicated one with no clear solution — a longer suspension might be better, he said, but it might not be enough to placate those who stuck by the PGA Tour through all the early drama.
“If you’re Jordan Speith, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, who turned down similar numbers,” Knost prompted. “What are you going to say if they’re all of a sudden now like, okay these guys are allowed to come back?”
“I’m not sure how that will work,” Kelly relented. “But those guys that were loyal, there has to be some sort of [defense for them]. I don’t know.”
To hear the full interview, check out the link below.