It looks like The American Express PGA Tour event in La Quinta, California, can expect a two-time past champion to rejoin the field in 2027.

No, not Phil Mickelson, who will be 56 by then and perhaps not playing much competitive golf. Instead, it could be that Hudson Swafford, the 2017 and 2022 American Express winner, will be back on the PGA Tour in 2027 after making a jump to the LIV Tour in 2022. Swafford is telling people, including host Colt Knost on the Subpar podcast, that the PGA Tour has handed down a five-year suspension to the 37-year-old golfer.

Swafford had complained in the past, after being relegated off the LIV Tour, that he wanted to return to the PGA Tour. But he said the tour wouldn’t provide him with a clear path to return. Now the tour apparently has spoken, and it’s a pretty harsh discipline for Swafford.

PGA Tour suspension started in 2022

Since that suspension dates back to his play on LIV in 2022, five years will take him to 2027. Swafford will have lost most of his PGA Tour exemptions by then, and he is one of the players who resigned his PGA Tour membership as part of the LIV jump. But The American Express has a 10-year exemption for past La Quinta champions, so Swafford should be eligible to return to La Quinta in 2027.