Thomas Pieters Says Focus Means Never Returning to PGA Tour

Thomas Pieters has put his focus on the future of LIV Golf, and he says it does not include a PGA Tour return if the league disappears. The LIV player said he would be ready to retire if the funding plug were pulled quickly, while also leaving open a possible move back to the DP World Tour.

Pieters on PGA Tour return

Pieters said the bluntest part of his response on the Dan on Golf podcast was simple: he will not go back. “I’m definitely never going back to the PGA Tour. I’ve never liked that life. And that’s not me having a go at the PGA Tour, it’s not for me.”

He added that if LIV Golf goes away, he would likely try to play some on the European Tour or “I don’t know. I really don’t know.” That leaves his next step tied directly to whether LIV can keep its doors open beyond the current uncertainty.

Before joining LIV, Pieters played on the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. He has won six DP World Tour events, which gives him a clear fallback if he chooses to stay closer to home rather than chase a return to the tour he ruled out.

Grim reaction in Mexico

The concern sharpened when reports broke that Saudi Arabia PIF would pull funding from LIV Golf. Pieters said he and other LIV players were in Mexico preparing for LIV Golf Mexico City when the news hit, and the mood turned fast.

“The atmosphere was very grim… I had enough of it after about three or four hours,” he said. He also said he called home and was ready to retire on Monday if the league pulled the plug that quick, adding that he was “kind of” fine with that idea.

He later said he was not fussed about the uncertainty at that point because he still had “a duty to focus on these next six, seven tournaments on LIV and then we’ll see.”

Scott O'Neil's funding test

Pieters said LIV CEO Scott O’Neil now faces a massive challenge to secure new funding so the league can continue into 2027. That challenge sits over the rest of the 2026 season, which resumes on Thursday in the U.S. with LIV Golf Virginia at Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C.

For Pieters, the immediate issue is not a comeback route to the PGA Tour. It is whether LIV survives long enough for him to keep playing there, or whether he shifts back to Europe and closes the door on the game’s other main lane.