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Are players starting to leave LIV Golf?
Laurie Canter. Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports

Are players starting to leave LIV Golf?

We have wondered for over a year now what it would be like if a player left LIV Golf and returned to either the PGA or DP World Tour. Then, just last week, English pro and Majesticks GC member Laurie Canter revealed ahead of the Open Championship that he will be returning to the DP World Tour in August.

"I've got a week off and then I've got a couple of tournaments in the States on the LIV Tour, and then back playing the DP World Tour in August," Canter said, via Golf Monthly. "That's my plan."

The 33-year-old was one of a handful of DP World Tour pros who joined LIV Golf in 2022 -- and were suspended and fined for it. With that apparently in the rearview mirror now, it appears he's ready to get his membership card back and rejoin the European circuit.

Is this the start of other players leaving Greg Norman's rogue league and returning to the PGA and DP World Tours?

For starters, it should be noted Canter doesn't appear to be leaving LIV Golf on bad terms -- at least, not that we can tell.

"It's been sort of amazing experience for me to be honest to get a chance to do that, play with proper guys who…it's not really a stretch to say, they were kind of my heroes growing up, now to be on a team and pick their brains every week, it's just an amazing opportunity and something I've enjoyed," Canter said of playing so close to players like Majesticks GC team captain Henrik Stenson. 

He also told The Guardian that joining LIV was "a complete life changer" financially -- although that should probably go without having to be said. 

So then why leave LIV if things are going so well? The never-ending feud between LIV Golf and the major tours may have played a role in that.

"There have been points where it has been embarrassing to be a professional golfer," Canter told The Guardian. "I have had teaching pros say to me that they have been embarrassed by some of the conduct that has gone on. That is not what being a golfer is about."

At the end of the day, it isn't completely clear why Canter is rejoining the DP World Tour, and until we know the full reasoning it's difficult to say whether he's an individual case or the first of more players leaving LIV Golf.

It is definitely something to keep an eye on, though. With the potential merger still very much at the forefront of everyone's minds, it will be very interesting to see if more players jump ship.

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