For Pro Hudson Swafford, 37, leaving the PGA Tour to join Liv Golf was not an easy decision he made. The former Georgia Bulldog won three times in the PGA Tour between 2017 and 2022.
“It was definitely a tough decision,” Swaford said in this week’s Subpar. “I’m very interested in this.”
The shorter game schedule and the golf team’s charm attracted Swafford, who considered his choice in the winter and spring of 2022 at the birth of his second child. During that time, he was also more aware of the discomfort on his right hip. Swafford struggled in pain when he returned to the PGA Tour in the 2022 Byron Nelson and the 2022 PGA Championship, saying he began to think more seriously about Liv.
“They donated a bunch of money, which is tempting. I never had any guarantees in my life,” Swaford told hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “This decision wasn’t easy. I knew I would give some calories for it. I don’t know how much calories I actually have to pay. It’s definitely a tough time.”
Unfortunately for Swafford, his hip injury eventually derailed his game career, missing out on the entire 2023 Liv golf season after surgery. Last year, Swafford was downgraded from Liv Golf after serving as a wildcard. He is currently working in real estate during the PGA Tour moratorium, which he said will end in 2027.
At this point, as the PGA Tour/LIV deal remains elusive, Knost and Stoltz wonder: What will LIV stars like Swafford and Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau handle if they want to return to the Liv contract?
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“Man, I don’t know. It’s a good question,” Swaford said. “You have to look at it in this regard: all these people who are going to be fair on the tour, so how do you not want Bryson and Brooks and Dustin and Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann, all these good players back?
“That will increase your value, right?” he continued. “Like, their trip will get better with their return, but you really stick your nose out, like, because of the decisions they make, don’t we need them? I don’t know.”
For more information on Swafford, including other discussions about LIV and the PGA Tour, check out Subpar’s full episode below.
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