Golfer says he's serving 'longest suspension' in PGA Tour history
A professional golfer says he is currently serving what is believed to be the longest suspension in the history of the PGA Tour.
Hudson Swafford, who is a three-time PGA Tour winner, played on the tour for 11 years after turning professional in 2011.
The American won his first title, the CareerBuilder Challenge, in 2017, before lifting the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship in 2020.
2022 was something of a breakout year for the now 38-year-old, as he won The Desert Classic in January after shooting a final-round 64.
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He also made the cut for the first time at a major, finishing tied for 30th at the Masters and winning £93,150 in prize money in the process.
But later that year, Swafford opted to play in the inaugural LIV Golf event in London, without authorisation from the PGA Tour.
PGA chief Jay Monahan said that any members who violated their tournament regulations would be 'subject to disciplinary action'.
Every PGA member who quit the tour to sign up for much more lucrative LIV Golf events would subsequently be suspended from playing on the PGA Tour.
In February 2025, Monahan stated that all LIV Golf players would not be allowed to play in PGA tournaments as non-members through sponsor exemptions or invites.
The PGA launched the Returning Member Programme in January of this year, which would allow LIV golfers to return to the PGA Tour as long as they agreed to strict limitations. Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka took up the offer, and is now back on the PGA Tour.
Swafford, who failed to get back on the LIV Golf tour in 2025, claims he has a five-year suspension from the PGA Tour which dates back to his first LIV event in 2022.
Speaking to Golf.com's Subpar podcast in July, he says that the length of the ban is due to him playing in LIV events while still a PGA member and during their tour schedule.
He believes that part of the reason behind the PGA's decision is due to the contracts of several elite LIV stars expire at the end of 2026, which could allow a number of them to return to the PGA Tour at once.
"I know they're basing that on a couple of people's contracts being up after the '26 season, so then they can kind of change rules in favour of everybody coming back," Swafford said.
"I know some guys who didn't have any status on the PGA Tour, it's a hard one-year [suspension], not only PGA Tour-sanctioned events, but then you can come back and play.
"But problem is if I come in and talk to them, it's like, 'Okay, I can come back and play in '27. But what does '27 on the PGA Tour really look like?'"
"I didn't think it would be this fractured this long, to be honest with you," he said of the division between the PGA and LIV Golf. "I don't think any of us did.
"As a golf fan, you want to see the best playing together. I don't think this fracture is good for the game.
"But on the flip side, the PGA Tour needed to be shanked up a bit."
In a subsequent interview with Sports Illustrated in January, Swafford added: "I can re-enroll as a member [of the PGA] but obviously the [proposed] shrinking of the PGA Tour schedule, closing it out to more members - and I totally understand it - it's going to be hard playing out of the past champions [category].
"But I get it. It's a new PGA Tour, for-profit entry, and we've been trying to get an off-season for a long time. Something has to give."
The PGA Tour were contacted for comment by Sports Illustrated following Swafford's comments, but the PGA do not comment on disciplinary matters.
Topics: Golf, United States
Ryan Smart