The PGA Tour holds all the rights to a player’s image after they sign with them. That means, if a golfer has to miss an event or play elsewhere, it cannot happen unless the Tour permits it. So, when the LIV Golf pro joined the breakaway circuit, they knew about the risks of being suspended from the PGA Tour and eventually missing out on all of its iconic events, including the Presidents Cup. Thus, you would not find even one LIV golfer at the Royal Montreal Golf Club. Now, it may have become more of a hurdle for the International Team than the USA Team because their team is weaker in terms of ranks, victories, and form.

And that’s what happened on Presidents Cup’s Thursday fourball games. Team USA swept the International players as they won every single match and earned the 5-0 lead. Talking about the brutal results of the international team, one user posted on X that the Presidents Cup was over in just a day and sarcastically wondered about it as they attached the picture of Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann. They implied that if these two LIV golfers had been allowed, the International Team wouldn’t have lost so badly.

Reposting the same, Tiger Woods’s former coach, Hank Haney, relayed his feelings on LIV Golf pros missing the patriotic event. Haney was the coach of Woods when he played the 2007 and 2009 Presidents Cup and the Americans won both times. Also, his former student holds the record for having all-time most wins (27) at the event, yet Haney is not a fan of it now. He retweeted the post and showed his disregard for the event, saying, “What an absolute joke of an event this is.”

Woods former coach has been a LIV Golf advocate since the league’s inception in 2022. He has talked about many issues that the LIV golfers face in the golf world and always talked in their favor. This time as well, Haney was indirectly saying that having LIV Golf players on the International Team would have made it stronger and better to face the Americans and not lose with zero points on day one.

Even though Haney wanted the LIV golfers to be on the Presidents Cup, it may not be possible until a merger is finalized between the PGA Tour and PIF. Although that is still delayed, the LIV golfers have received a green light to play in another big event.

LIV golfers now approved for the Ryder Cup, unlike the Presidents Cup

Last year, only one LIV Golf pro made it to the Ryder Cup, it was the 5-time major winner Brooks Koepka. In 2023, Koepka won the PGA Championship for the second time and was one of the trending golfers, thus missing him from the roster would have been a mistake. Hence, Zach Johnson, the then-captain, picked Koepka to be in his team.

Although the Americans lost, regardless, it was a strong team. But no other LIV Golf pro made it there. But now that issue is resolved by the PGA of America, which sanctioned the Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship. The firm posted a tweet on X and revealed that the LIV golfers were now eligible to play in both events mentioned before, either through captain’s pick or qualifying through the rankings.

Notably, this still doesn’t mean that there will be points allocated to the LIV Golf events for the Ryder Cup. Simply put, the golfer won’t have to fulfill any additional criteria to qualify for these events. The PGA of America has opened its arms to the LIV pros. Soon, they would, and even Haney hopes that the PGA Tour may allow the players for the Presidents Cup too so that it is more exciting and competitive.