Did PGA of America really change LIV Golf’s Ryder Cup eligibility in latest statement?

The PGA of America announced that LIV golfers can continue to compete in the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship. But is this a new development?

The PGA of America, the organization that manages the American Ryder Cup team and facilitates the PGA Championship, made headlines on Thursday by releasing a statement regarding LIV Golf and its competitions.

In sum, the PGA of America ruled that LIV Golf stars, such as Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, are eligible for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, and each future iteration of those events “going forward.”

The complete statement from the PGA of America follows below:

To ensure the PGA Championship will contiunue to deliver the strongest field in golf and that the U.S. Ryder Cup team will continue to have access to the best American players, the PGA of America board has determined that LIV Golf players will be eligbile for both.

Going forward, all LIV Golf players are eligibile for the PGA Championship and any American player who qualifies for the Ryder Cup on points or is added to the U.S. team as a captain’s pick is eligbile to compete.

This is consistent with LIV Golf players competiting in the PGA Championship the past two years. Brooks Koepka was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team last year.

As the last stanza points out, this statement is consistent with how the organization has handled the rise of LIV Golf. Plenty of major champions play on the Saudi-backed circuit, and Koepka even took home the Wanamaker Trophy at Oak Hill in May 2023. In doing so, he became the first active LIV player to win a major. Fifteen other LIV players teed it up at Oak Hill, too. But then the PGA of America doubled down on this policy, inviting 16 total players to play at Valhalla this year. The organization sent special invites to numerous LIV players, notably Joaquin Niemann, for their strong play in the months leading up to the second major of the year. They want all of the best players in the world to play together, something Rory McIlroy has longed for with his dream vision of a world tour.

Nevertheless, nothing has changed.

Perhaps one reason the PGA of America released this statement Thursday is that Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated reported on Wednesday that DeChambeau may be ineligible for next year’s Ryder Cup. Harig also wrote that the PGA of America had not yet confirmed LIV Golf’s eligibility for 2025, but the organization has done so now.

But it always seemed like LIV players would be able to play at Bethpage Black next year.

When the organization shockingly appointed Keegan Bradley as the American captain, the 2011 PGA Champion fielded a question about picking LIV golfers for his team.

“I’m going to have the best 12 players, so the PGA of America, they—we’re going to have the 12 best players, so they need to figure that out, if that’s their problem,” Bradley said on Jul. 11 in New York.

“I know you have to be a PGA member to play in the Ryder Cup. That’s the only stipulation that you need. So we’ll make sure if some of those guys that we think might make the team, we’ll make sure that they are a member.”

Problem solved—but there was no problem to begin with.

In 2023, Captain Zach Johnson selected Koepka to play on his team. He was the only LIV player to compete in Rome, as the Europeans ruled longtime stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Martin Kaymer ineligible due to their affiliation with LIV. Those players also resigned from their DP World Tour membership, thus forfeiting the opportunity to don the blue and gold once every two years. But now the Europeans have a small conundrum after Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton bolted to LIV since then. Rahm and Hatton played a massive role in Europe’s triumph in Rome, and both players hope to play on the team again in New York. The Europeans will need Rahm and Hatton, too. Winning at Bethpage Black will be a tall task for the road team.

Despite that, the PGA of America has nothing to do with the European Ryder Cup team. The DP World Tour will have to resolve that issue.

But now, the PGA of America officially has no issues with LIV Golf. Any LIV player can play in the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup if they qualify.

But was this an issue in the first place?

Not really.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.