‘They would be hits’: Senior Tour star conflicted over LIV pros joining

With LIV Golf’s future in doubt, the league’s stars have begun searching for other places to play pro golf. LIV CEO Scott O’Neil’s inability to guarantee the rest of this season will happen on Tuesday has only accelerated that process.

Much focus has been put on whether LIV’s brightest stars, like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, would attempt returns to the DP World and PGA Tours.

But there is another large subset of LIV pros in a very different situation: the aging stars.

Will older LIV Golf stars play PGA Tour Champions?

When LIV began in 2022, the league was eager to acquire big-name players, even if they were beyond their prime playing days. Those same players, seeing declines in fortunes in their careers, were eager to cash in on the huge sums of money the PIF-backed LIV was offering them.

Many of those who took the deal were former European Ryder Cup stars, major champions or both, and household names among golf fans, such as Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia, to name a few.

Older American stars, like Phil Mickelson and Pat Perez, ditched the PGA Tour for LIV as well.

If LIV does fold next year, or even in the coming weeks, those older players likely won’t have the game to play the DP World or PGA Tours, even if they were allowed to try.

However, there is one tour designed specifically for the over-50 crowd: the PGA Tour Champions.

The issues with LIV players joining that tour, though, can be found at the beginning of its name. It’s owned and operated by the PGA Tour, and the PGA Tour’s punishments and restrictions for LIV players extend to the senior circuit as well.

Steve Stricker on LIV pros playing PGA Tour Champions: ‘I would love to have those guys’

One of the current stars of the PGA Tour Champions is Steve Stricker. Though he never won a major, Stricker captured 12 PGA Tour wins in his career and captained the U.S. Ryder Cup team to a huge victory in 2021.

Now 59, Stricker plays on the PGA Tour Champions, where he’s won 18 times, including seven senior major titles. He’s also the player-host of the PGA Tour Champions’ American Family Insurance Championship in Wisconsin.

Given his stakes in the PGA Tour Champions and his lofty personal reputation, Stricker’s opinion on whether LIV pros should be allowed on the senior circuit matters.

Last week, Stricker offered his thoughts on the issue in an interview with Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and revealed that he’s conflicted.

First, Stricker admitted that adding older LIV stars would be a boost to the PGA Tour Champions, saying certain players “would be hits here on the Champions Tour.”

“There’s two ways of looking at it, right? Sure, to have the guys that are 50 now, or close to it, like Lee Westwood, [Ian] Poulter, Pat Perez, some other guys [Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson], they would be hits here on the Champions Tour. This tour could use that,” Stricker said.

But at the same time, Stricker argued “they did leave,” and, therefore, it’s not as simple as just inviting them back when they want to come.

“Then I look at it from the other standpoint of like well, they did leave,” Stricker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “And I think each case is going to be taken differently from what I understand. I really don’t know.”

He continued by saying that as host of the American Family Insurance Championship, he “would love to have” LIV stars play because “it would only help our event.” But at the same time, he acknowledged there are ” probably consequences” if they want to return.

“I look at it both ways and I’m not sure which way is right. I mean, if I’m a tournament director I would love to have those guys and we’re in this business right here [with the AmFam Championship]. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have Poulter and Westwood and Pat Perez and some other guys there, too. It would only help our event, you know?” Stricker said. “But I also know that there are probably consequences for them if they want to come back.”

Of the current and former LIV players Stricker mentioned, only two have begun the path to the PGA Tour Champions: Perez and Stenson.

Now 50 years old, Perez has designs on playing the Champions Tour. In January, the PGA Tour confirmed that Perez had been reinstated as a Tour member. However, he would not be allowed to play in events this season as he served a suspension.

The Tour refused to reveal any other consequences Perez faced at the time, such as fines, telling Sports Illustrated, “the PGA Tour does not comment on disciplinary matters.” But Perez is still eligible to play in Senior Tour majors not run by the PGA Tour, including the 2026 Senior PGA Championship, which he played in April.

Stenson also played in the Senior PGA Championship this spring, and he has said his suspension comes to an end in August, after which he will play on the PGA Tour Champions.