World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler joined the chorus of PGA Tour stars — including Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, and Rickie Fowler — in disagreement with World No. 2 Rory McIlroy over how defectors to the LIV Golf League should be re-ingratiated.

“You had some guys that left our tour and then sued our tour. That wasn't really in great taste,” Scheffler told the Golf Channel. “Then you had some other guys that just left and they wanted to do something different. Everybody made their own decision and I have no bad blood towards the guys that left. But a path toward coming back, it wouldn’t be a very popular decision, I think, if they just came back like nothing ever happened. They did kind of leave and – they left our tour, that’s just part of it. There should be a pathway back for them, but they definitely shouldn’t be able to come back without any sort of contribution to the Tour.”

Scheffler will vie for a three-peat at the WM Phoenix Open this weekend, while LIV Golf tees it up in Las Vegas alongside Super Bowl LVIII.

At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week, McIlroy — who recently stepped down from the PGA Tour Policy Board —  admitted that his stance on LIV players being readmitted to PGA Tour events has evolved.

“I see where golf is and I see that having a diminished PGA Tour and having a diminished LIV Tour or anything else is bad for both parties. It would be much better being together, and moving forward together for the good of the game. That’s my opinion of it.

“So to me, the faster that we can all get back together and start to play and start to have the strongest fields possible, I think is great for golf.”

As negotiations on a framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund, which operates LIV, remain ongoing, the PGA Tour secured an investment worth up to $3 billion from Strategic Sports Group.

Spieth, who replaced McIlroy on the Policy Board that voted unanimously for the SSG deal, is dubious about the short-term prospects of a PGA-PIF agreement, and how LIV players should be welcomed back if that eventually occurs.

“I’ve done a lot of talking with a lot of players in the last couple months,” Spieth said. “That’s Rory’s viewpoint. I could name some guys with the same viewpoint, I could name some guys with a totally opposite viewpoint. So it’s certainly mixed on how players feel about that.”

In his press conference at TPC Scottsdale, Thomas clarified that while he's open to the idea of a PGA-PIF accord, he doesn't believe LIV players should be seamlessly accepted back onto the tour they abandoned for gobs of dubious money.

“I’m not necessarily super adamant one way or the other. I want the best product and the best players,” said the two-time major champion. “I would say that there’s a handful of players on LIV that would make the Tour a better place, but I’m definitely not in the agreement that they should just be able to come back that easily.”

“I totally understand that things are changing and things are getting better, but it just would — I would have a hard time with it,” he continued. “And I think a lot of guys would have a hard time with it, and I’m sure we don’t need to convince you why we would have a hard time with it.”

World No. 3 Jon Rahm — LIV's most prolific addition — expressed hope that a pathway into PGA Tour events will eventually emerge.

“Driving by Phoenix as often as I had to and knowing that I wasn't going to play there, it's definitely emotional,” he said this week. “That's one of the things that I'm going to miss. I'm hoping that in the near future I can be back playing some of those events. I would certainly love to go back and play some of them.”

LIV golfers are not recognized by the Official World Golf Rankings, placing them at a massive disadvantage for major entry — as Joaquin Niemann immediately pointed out after winning the first 2024 event at Mayakoba. As Don Draper would say: That's what the money is for.