'I thought you were suspended': Pat Perez from LIV Golf to Senior PGA

Pat Perez is one of the more interesting names on the tee sheet at the 2026 Senior PGA Championship. Not so much because after turning 50 in March (which makes him eligible for three senior majors in 2026, including the PGA), but more so because he is competing once again alongside so many players he used to face on the PGA Tour. Perez spent three years as a player and one as a broadcaster for LIV Golf.

He was reinstated by the PGA Tour in January , but has a lot of work to do to become a full member once again. More: What are PGA Tour players saying about LIV Golf shutting down rumors? When he left the Tour, he never resigned his membership, meaning his penalties are different than those Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed have received as they make ( or have made ) their returns.

But instead of being able to return later this year, like Reed is aiming for, Perez must sit out the entire 2026 season from PGA Tour-sanctioned events (PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry Tour). The Senior PGA, however, is run by the PGA of America and that tournament has its own eligibility rules. That's a long way of saying: Perez is in the field at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, where it didn't take long for someone to razz him a little bit, including Stewart Cink, who saw Perez on the practice range and yelled out: "I thought you were suspended!

" "You know, he's not wrong," Perez said on Wednesday. "Yeah, I am suspended for a year. There was no surprise in that.