TOUR Pro Admits LIV Golf Move “May Not Have Been the Best Decision”

Ben An has finally broken his silence on his LIV Golf move, and his verdict is about as honest as it gets.

The South Korean, who left the PGA Tour in January to captain LIV’s all-Korean team, admitted this week that the move “may not be the best decision looking back” — after the league folded just one season into his stint and left him fighting for his career at Q-School.

I stepped away from X for a while because I didn’t want all the rumors and noise coming into my head.
I’ve never regretted my choice playing on LIV. It may not be the best decision looking back but I enjoyed every moment while I was playing in the league.
Holding onto the past and worrying about the future are two of the harmful things you can do to yourself. One door closed with LIV but another has opened.
I’m looking forward play 2027 season in @DPWorldTour again.

— Byeong Hun An (@ByeongHunAn) November 12, 2026

One Season, Then the League Was Gone

An joined LIV in January 2026 and was immediately handed the captaincy of the rebranded Korean Golf Club after Kevin Na wasn’t offered a new contract. It was a surprise move at the time. An had been one of the PGA Tour’s most consistent performers — its highest career earner without a win — coming off a season with eight top-25 finishes and a tie for 21st at the Masters. He said he wanted to help grow the game in Korea, where tour events are few and far between.

Then the floor fell out. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced in April that it would stop financing LIV beyond 2026, and last week the league confirmed it was shutting down operations. An’s LIV career lasted 12 starts and a single season, with just two top-10 finishes.

And there was no easy way back. An isn’t eligible for an immediate return to the PGA Tour, so his only route onto a major tour in 2027 was the DP World Tour’s qualifying school — six rounds, 108 holes, against a field full of players fighting for the same 20 cards.

The Long Way Back

To his credit, An went and earned it the hard way.

He finished tied for eighth at Infinitum Golf in Tarragona, Spain, shooting 28-under over six rounds — in the 60s every single day, capped by a closing 5-under 66. It was good enough for one of the 20 cards on offer and a return to the tour where he first made his name.

“I got a job for next year, which is always a good thing,” he said in an interview on the DP World Tour’s website.

He wasn’t the only former LIV player to survive the week. Josele Ballester shared medalist honors at 32-under, and John Catlin also earned a card. But plenty of others didn’t make it — Sam Horsfield, Thomas Pieters, Michael La Sasso, Yosuke Asaji and Luis Masaveu were all among the LIV contingent who fell short and now face a genuinely uncertain 2027.

Found a new job. @DPWorldTour here I come

— Byeong Hun An (@ByeongHunAn) November 11, 2026

The Irony Is Hard to Miss

Here’s the part of the story that writes itself. Back in 2023, long before he ever signed with LIV, An posted on X that he wouldn’t touch the league without a massive payday: “I would not play LIV if no money was offered. I like playing on PGA Tour. Don’t see a reason for trying LIV without lots of money.”

Three years later, he took the money — and three weeks of “real talk” was all it took to get the deal done, by his own admission. Now he’s back where he started, grinding through Q-School to get back onto the DP World Tour.

It’s a homecoming of sorts, at least. An won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2015 — the first Asian winner of the event, by six shots, at a tournament-record 21-under — and added a second DP World Tour title at the 2024 Genesis Championship, beating Tom Kim in a playoff. He’s also played on two Presidents Cup teams. The DP World Tour knows exactly who he is.

What Comes Next

There is a catch to the happy ending. An’s Q-School finish earned him Category 18 status for 2027, which is conditional membership — a card, but not a guaranteed start every week. He’ll have to fight for his opportunities, even on a tour where he’s already won twice.

He could make his return as soon as the BMW Australian PGA Championship in late November, when the DP World Tour’s Opening Swing gets underway, though he hasn’t confirmed his schedule yet.

The bigger picture is still playing out. Bryson DeChambeau, the biggest name left without a home after LIV’s collapse, has been offered a DP World Tour spot for 2027 but has until November 15 to accept it. Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley has already warned him that turning it down to focus on YouTube golf would be “a dumb move.” Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Patrick Reed could all feature on the DP World Tour next season too — the fields in Europe are about to look very different.

The Bottom Line

Ben An’s LIV story is basically the whole LIV era in miniature. He left a stable PGA Tour career, spent one season in a league that no longer exists, and had to earn his way back through six rounds of Q-School to get to where he started.

The good news for An is that he did earn it. He’ll be back on the DP World Tour in 2027 — the tour where he announced himself to the world over a decade ago. One door closed, another opened. His words, not ours.