PGA Tour players are anxious about their future. The rank and file who struggle to get inside the signature events now are grappling with a sense of stress because of the likelihood of LIV golfers’ arrival. On the record, they might offer a diplomatic response, but off the record, their voice gives away what they are trying to hide.

Take Joel Dahmen, for example. The 37-year-old opened with a bogey-free 3-under at Vidanta Vallarta this Thursday. Golf Central’s Damon Hack caught up with him after the round. Whereas the PGA Tour decision-makers, some thousands of miles away, were talking with Donald Trump. The meeting, as multiple sources claim, was productive. The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are moving fast to rebuild the burnt bridges.

On the record, Dahmen said, “I just hope that I keep having tee times on the PGA Tour… I hope they had a great lunch at the White House, and they had a great lunch at the end.” But the 37-year-old knows that in the current structure, the opportunity for a one-time PGA Tour winner to fight for the $4M paycheck will get diminished.

Damon revealed the conversations he had while traveling to and fro from the golf course to the hotel. He gets a different feeling.  “There is a great sense of anxiety I’m feeling among the players… There is a sense of stress…” said Hack in Golf Central. It’s not surprising given the current structure of the Tour. The eight Signature events, which are also tournaments with historic importance among pros, play on a limited field of 70. The criteria to enter the field automatically shrinks the space for rookies, and struggling pros. If the LIV Golf pros come back, the window will get even narrower. 

How LIV golfers will affect the Signature events

Rumor was the Tour can welcome LIV golfers as early as the 2025 PLAYERS Championship. While that timeframe is unrealistic, laughable even, that the LIV golfers will be back is a certainty. This means steeper competition. More players vying for a spot unless the tour decides to change its structure. Think about it as a player ranked outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup rankings. Getting into signature events becomes tougher. When the likes of Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, and Bryson DeChambeau come in that is going to take up some ten spots at the least easily. 

So, everything depends on what guardrails the PGA Tour puts on LIV golfers participating in the PGA Tour events. By the look of it, the Tour is unlikely to impose heavy sanctions on returning LIV Golf pros. That has caused some tension among the players, and quite understandably so. In a situation like this, tournaments like the Mexico Open have become the Holy Grail for average players. It’s their chance to pick up a top-ten, if not a title, and get their OWGR rankings up.