Bryson DeChambeau is perhaps the one player who has provided LIV Golf with a significant boost in recent weeks, with the Crushers captain expressing a desire to extend his contract.
It is incredibly difficult to know what the future holds for LIV Golf, with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia set to withdraw their support for the league in the coming months.
It seems that LIV is funded for the rest of the year. However, the decision to postpone June’s event in New Orleans undoubtedly sent the rumour mill into overdrive.
With that, many are fascinated to see what happens with the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm .
DeChambeau’s case is particularly interesting because his LIV contract expires at the end of the season. DeChambeau reportedly wanted $500 million to sign a new deal.
It did appear that he was keeping his options open. Reports suggested that DeChambeau’s management team met with PGA Tour officials during The Masters to find out how a potential return would look.
DeChambeau subsequently said he hoped to stay with LIV and was optimistic about extending his contract.
And while a lot seems to be going wrong for LIV right now, Rex Hoggard has told the Golf Channel Podcast that he does still see a world where DeChambeau commits his future to the league.
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“They could certainly roll out the same program that they did earlier this year when Brooks Koepka came back to the PGA Tour. I’m not sure how that lands with some of the membership. I think the other conversation that came up around this earlier in the week, let’s say it’s 52 players and they’re all looking for a possible exit strategy, and I think that’s a fair conversation, it’s the proper conversation – if you’re in any line of work and you think you might be coming to the end professionally, I think everybody would start looking at other avenues and places to play, places to continue their careers – in this particular case, I think it’s fair to say most of those 52 players are going to have to do it the way Patrick Reed did. You’re probably going to have to earn your way back on to the PGA Tour, through various outlets,” he said.
“Here’s the roadmap, you know what it looks like. You’re probably going to have to sit out a year and then you can start again, be it at Q-School or the DP World Tour or trying to get on the Korn Ferry Tour, whatever the case may be.
“The couple that interest me the most though would be a Bryson DeChambeau, and when you start hearing stories about he may walk away from LIV Golf or he may not, because I think in his mind, and we’ve heard him say this recently, he’s invested in the concept of LIV Golf. He has equity stakes in his team, I believe it’s 25 per cent of his team that he owns. He was going to ask for a huge re-signing of a new contract based on him winning the US Open a couple of years ago at Pinehurst. I can see a scenario where they can come up with some sort of a contract that makes him happy, because I think it’s fair to start having the conversation does Bryson DeChambeau ever want to come back to the PGA Tour?
“I think it’s 100 per cent fair to have the same conversation about Jon Rahm, because we’re already seeing it when it comes to the DP World Tour that there’s not enough stepping back that the DP World Tour can do to bring Jon Rahm back, to convince him that yes, this is worthwhile. Maybe this is bluster and maybe this is him trying to get the negotiations started on the right foot with him having the leverage. Or maybe this is just his decision that this is where I want to be. Whatever this version of golf is going to look like, this is where I want to be. I think it’s a legitimate conversation.”
It is extremely difficult to see LIV continuing in its current form. There is surely no way that the league can source a similar level of funding to what the PIF provided.
It seems almost inevitable that some notable names will decide to move on.
But there will be hope for LIV’s future if they manage to convince DeChambeau to stay.
They can also take some optimism from their tournaments in Australia and South Africa. They have been overwhelming successes, displaying the potential events like that do have in the current game.
If DeChambeau believes that the revamped LIV will not harm his chances of competing in the majors – and the financial terms are right – then perhaps it is not out of the question that he will decide to stay.
