Pat Perez thought the hardest chapter of his career was already behind him. After quietly stepping away from LIV Golf in 2024, he stayed attached to the league for a year as a commentator. Later, he even declined to take up the role of commentator, maybe because he believed the road back to PGA Tour–sanctioned golf was finally opening. But beneath the hopeful signs lies a harsh reality. Despite not playing LIV events for over a year, Perez remains suspended by the PGA Tour.

Perez’s recent antiques convinced many that the golfer is ready to turn the page and rejoin familiar territory, perhaps even teeing it up alongside Tiger Woods in 2026. However, the ban, which finds its root back to his original LIV defection in 2022, has not expired simply because he stopped competing there. In 2022, when Perez had already bagged three PGA Tour wins decided to switch allegiance and joined the Saudi-backed league. Playing for three long years, he has reportedly secured a prize money that goes over $21 million. In 2025, too, Perez was a part of LIV as their on-course commentator.

Now, as it appears, his act of taking up the role of a commentator came back to haunt him. His attachment to LIV, even as a media personality, would be taken into consideration. Thus, it is not yet a year that Perez has been in collaboration with what the PGA Tour refers to as an “unauthorized event.”

The policy from the PGA Tour rulebook reads, “Non-member players who participate in an unauthorized event will be subject to the Non-Member Policy, which prohibits play in PGA Tour events for one year from the date of participation in an unauthorized event.”

The optimism surrounding his return to the PGA only grew when Perez hinted at his intentions publicly. He shared a simple Instagram post showing a cup stamped with the PGA Tour logo. He captioned the post, “Happy New Year,” which sparked immediate speculation with fans assuming that Perez is already seeing his future with the PGA Tour.

Now, Perez finds himself in limbo. Although he is eager for redemption, he is stopped by an unexpected one-year barrier that could delay his long-awaited PGA Tour Champions debut.

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Pat Perez exits LIV Golf as merger uncertainty clouds PGA Tour future

Perez was a part of Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces Golf Club and secured quite a few wins with the team. But despite that, Perez decided to move out of LIV as he wasn’t happy with the structural problems that the league was dealing with. 

Reflecting on the reason behind his decision, the 49-year-old shared, “A lot of it will have to do with what happens with this so-called merger. If it doesn’t happen, I see no chance (of playing on the Champions Tour). But if it does, I want to know what the steps are to possibly play the Tour. There are a lot of situations that have come up and it’s all based on what happens at the end of the day.”

While Perez has already stopped participating in competitive match plays since 2024 and now has cut of all ties with LIV, aiming to resume his participation in PGA Tour Championships, it’s time to tell how the future unfolds for the former LIV golfer.