Patrick Reed is leaving LIV Golf and wants to return to the PGA Tour as soon as this year.
Reed became the latest star to announce his departure from the Saudi-backed league on Wednesday, Jan. 28, joining Brooks Koepka as former PGA Tour stars who defected to LIV Golf in recent years only to seek reinstatement. But Reed’s path back to the PGA Tour will be more complicated than Koepka, who is playing his first PGA Tour event since March 2022 this week at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego.
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The PGA Tour confirmed that Reed informed the organization of his desire to return, but he does not fit under the exemptions carved out under the Returning Members Program announced earlier this month that paved the way for Koepka’s expedient return for the 2026 PGA Tour season.
REACTION: One word sums up why Brooks Koepka wanted to return to the PGA Tour
Reed, according to the PGA Tour, is seeking reinstatement for the 2027 season under its past champion category but could play in some events this year. Since Reed last played in a LIV Golf event on Aug. 24, 2025, and because he resigned his PGA Tour membership in 2022 before joining LIV Golf, he is eligible to compete again on the PGA Tour as a non-member on Aug. 25, provided that he complies with PGA Tour regulations and does not participate in additional unauthorized events. He is also permitted to improve his potential status on the PGA Tour by playing on the DP World Tour.
Reed, like Koepka, will be ineligible to participate in the PGA Tour’s lucrative Player Equity Program through 2030 even if he were reinstated for 2027. Reed did not meet the criteria for the Returning Member Program that applied to players who had won a major championship or The Players Championship since 2022. Reed won The Masters in 2018 and never won The Players. Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith would be eligible to return under the Returning Member Program if they apply for reinstatement by the PGA Tour’s Feb. 2 deadline, but are not expected to do so.
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While the deadline for the Returning Member Program is Monday, Feb. 2, Tour officials expect Brooks Koepka – who will participate in this week’s Farmers Insurance Open – to be the only player returning via the Program.
“I’m a traditionalist at heart, and I was born to play on the PGA Tour, which is where my story began with my wife, Justine,” Reed wrote in a social media post announcing his plans. “I am very fortunate for the opportunities that have come my way and grateful for the life we have created. I am moving forward in my career, and I look forward to competing on the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour. I can’t wait to get back out there and revisit some of the best places on earth.
Reed revealed earlier this week, after winning the 2026 Hero Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour, that he hadn’t signed a new contract with LIV Golf and was technically a free agent. He will be eligible to play in PGA Tour fall events as a sponsor’s exemption or through open qualifying based on his non-member status for 2026, beginning with the Biltmore Championship in Asheville, North Carolina that runs Sep. 17-20.
Reed could also be a captain’s pick for the United States Presidents’ Cup team. He is a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Patrick Reed leaving LIV Golf, seeks PGA Tour return in 2026
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