​Webb Simpson has floated the idea that Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau could benefit the PGA Tour by returning, though he also warned them about the tougher consequences they might face if they come back. The golf world is watching closely as LIV Golf’s future begins to take shape. The league is pursuing fresh investment, with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia preparing to step away at the season’s end. It remains unclear what LIV will look like next year or whether DeChambeau or Rahm will remain involved. The only certainty seems to be that the league would look dramatically different from 2027 if it continues.
Rahm and DeChambeau would be prudent to keep their options open, given that both have dominated golf in recent seasons. Earlier this year they had a chance to rejoin the PGA Tour when Brian Rolapp introduced the Returning Member Program to allow Brooks Koepka to come back. Koepka, a five-time major champion, faced penalties including a $5 million charity donation and a ban from signature events until he proved his status through the FedEx Cup. The Returning Member pathway created for Koepka was limited, enabling only three other players— Cameron Smith among them— to pursue the same move, yet all three decided to stay with LIV.
In discussing the matter on the Sliced podcast, Simpson suggested that Rahm and DeChambeau should brace themselves for stricter penalties, reflecting on Koepka’s comeback. “I thought the criteria for him coming back was probably about right. I didn’t have a better solution. I thought as players, we’ve got to swallow our pride a little bit and say since we’re equity owners now in PGA Tour Enterprises, this is going to help us, and as much as we’d like to think, hey, you made your decision, you’re no longer able to come play on this tour,” he said.
“We’ve got to be able to say hey, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, these guys playing on the PGA Tour is only going to help the PGA Tour. Not that the tour is desperate for them. The tour is way bigger than one player. And I think we all know that, but it would help. And so I think the tour will come up with creative ways to get them back with eligibility, but it’s not going to be easy as it was for Brooks.”
Simpson added that Rahm and DeChambeau would have to recognize they had missed an opportunity and that the window was closing. He noted that Patrick Reed has been able to compete on the PGA Tour again, starting this September, a development he found “pretty wild,” albeit Reed’s return came via the DP World Tour route. “If I was Bryson DeChambeau or Jon Rahm right now, I would be surprised if their agents haven’t had many conversations with Rolapp and the board on what they can do to come back.”
Looking ahead, the path back for Rahm appears likely to be more straightforward than for DeChambeau, though both have potential routes back to the PGA Tour through formal processes or negotiated eligibility. The broader implications for LIV, Rahm, and DeChambeau remain uncertain, but Simpson’s perspective underscores a growing sense that reentry to the PGA Tour could be possible—albeit with meaningful caveats and a recognition that a return would be far more complex than it was for Brooks Koepka.