Two Former LIV Golfers Ready to Open Next Chapter at Senior PGA Championship

BRADENTON, Fla. – Two more former LIV golfers will be returning to play in the United States, this time at this week’s Senior PGA Championship at The Concession Golf Club.

British Open champion Henrik Stenson (2016) and three-time PGA TOUR winner Pat Perez will be making their first starts on American soil since leaving LIV Golf in late 2025 and late 2024, respectively, after being relegated or released.

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Perez turned 50 on March 1, but he’s not allowed to return to PGA TOUR sponsored events (i.e. the PGA TOUR Champions) until Jan. 1, 2027 because he remained on as a LIV commentator for a year. Stenson, who turned 50 on April 5, will be eligible on Aug. 25, 2026. The Swede and Perez are eligible for the Senior PGA Championship because it’s run by the PGA of America.

“I signed a pin flag in the locker room yesterday,” Stenson said. “It’s the first pin flag we signed as a senior.”

Perez’s welcome was more vocal. Stewart Cink was leaving the interview area Tuesday when he spotted Perez on the 18th green during a pro-am.

“I thought you were suspended,” Cink yelled at Perez, both erupting in laughter.

“You know, he's not wrong,” Perez said of Cink. “I am suspended [from the TOUR] for a year. There was no surprise in that. I'm just grateful and fortunate to be here. The tour gave me a lifeline to come back and play. Couldn't be more appreciative for it.”

Both players say they have, for the most part, been welcomed back by the Senior players with hugs and listening to old stories from longtime friends. Stenson said it may not be universal, but “I have a lot of names in my telephone. I don’t need all of them.”

Stenson and Perez share one other thing: Inactivity. Both said they didn’t touch – that’s right, touch – a club for eight months. They had nowhere to play and no reason to grind until they knew when their golf exile would end.

So they did what every longtime athlete would do during a break: Nothing.

“I've toured the world for 28 years, and I felt during COVID that it was kind of nice to have -- you feel like you can kind of land a little bit and have that extra bit of time,” Stenson said. “I've felt the same now.

“I probably needed it even more so this time around. I was definitely run down, and I think being in your own house eating well, sleeping well, working out, just like getting back into a good day-to-day rhythm has really helped me, and I'm in a much better place now than I was six months ago.”

Perez concurred. “I've been on the road 28 years. It's kind of a nice mid-life kind of reset. I'm looking forward to getting out here.”

Perez spent his time away taking care of his two kids, 4 and 7, after a divorce last year. After the break, he started keeping score in his head with his buddies in Scottsdale, before counting the days down to the Senior PGA after he was informed of his suspension by the PGA TOUR.

So, how will they perform on a daunting course like The Concession after the long layoff? They have no idea.

“I don't think you forget how to compete, but there might certainly be a little bit of rust to shake,” Stenson said. “Given that we're at a senior major, it would have been nice to maybe have a few reps in before, but that's fine. We'll just do the best we can.”

Said Perez: “I don't know where my game is at. I haven't played competitively in 19 months. I have an idea of what I want to do, but I don't really have a whole lot of expectations. I'd like to play well in these three that I have (U.S. Senior Open and Senior British Open are the others), but I'm not really going to go overboard.”

The majority of the PGA TOUR Champions players are welcoming the LIV players back. And these guys can still play,

“I consider Pat a good friend,” Zach Johnson said. “I'm sure he would say the same. If you get to know Pat, there's not an individual that doesn't want to be around Pat. He's, for lack of a better term, a breath of fresh air. He's witty, sarcastic. He's much more intelligent than probably people give him credit.

“And Henrik is a major champion winner, won tournaments all over the world. It wouldn't surprise me if either one of those guys won.”

For this pair, LIV Golf is in their past. The PGA TOUR Champions is in their future. And the Senior PGA Championship is their present.

“It’s a new chapter in life and in my career,” Stenson said, “but I’m excited for this week.”