There is no way instant back to the PGA Tour for all but six professionals currently over at LIV Golf, as Webb Simpson has issued a warning before it’s too late

Webb Simpson believes that only six players will be able to re-join the PGA Tour if they decide to leave LIV Golf, with the others having to start from scratch.

When the breakaway league started signing golfers in 2022, it hurt the prestigious PGA Tour and led to heavy fan backlash. But golfers kept transitioning due to the financial incentive the Saudi-backed organisation offered, with reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm finally departing at the end of last year.

Measures have been put in place to stop more players from leaving the PGA Tour, with European players that head to LIV currently stripped of Ryder Cup eligibility, and all players are unable to earn OWGR points. While that may not be an issue right now, it would stop them from competing in the four majors further down the line, which could lead to a mass exodus.

But former US Open champion Simpson, who has remained loyal to the PGA Tour, believes only six golfers would be able to jump straight back. For everyone else, the American is confident they’ll either have to join Q-school or join another tour as he believes field sizes are already a problem.

Simpson told Golfweek : “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.”

He namedropped those with major exemptions in the form of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, and Cam Smith. Simpson believes field sizes are already a problem and that is where he sees difficult finding a way back for others who left the Tour for LIV.

Discussing the logistics of a way back, he said: “That’s where I scratch my head because somebody’s gonna lose here. Somebody’s gonna have to lose for us to solve this problem,” Simpson said, before expressing his belief that fields of 156 players are a “terrible thing” and there’s a need to protect the quality of the product by reducing them to 144.