Bryson DeChambeau’s golfing future remains up in the air amid the major concerns surrounding LIV Golf.
The American is one of the most high-profile figures on the Saudi-backed tour, which is set to lose its funding from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) at the end of the season.
Also coming to an end this season is DeChambeau’s LIV Golf contract, after which he has suggested he is open to pursuing content creation full-time.
DeChambeau would play only in tournaments that want him as part of that strategy too, which Rex Hoggard has now reacted to.
Speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav , he said: “It is a tectonic shift over the last two weeks with the PIF announcing they will be pulling that funding.
“That means essentially that all of the leverage goes back to the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
“I am not quite sure what business school Bryson went to that he thinks in his mind that suddenly he has some form of leverage that he didn’t before.
“First and foremost he is assuming that LIV Golf will be able to match his contract, which we have heard various reports, but we are looking at nine figures and his contract is due this year.
“It is hard to imagine they are able to come up with a large sum of money without the PIF behind them.
“What I would also say, and I’m speaking now from the PGA Tour side of this, I am not quite sure how much he is going to be welcomed back given those types of comments.
“Brooks Koepka was an entirely different scenario. The Returning Member Program gave him a pathway which was punitive, as I pointed out, and to a certain degree made you agree that I made a mistake.
“I don’t think Brooks has done that openly and publicly since he joined the Tour, but sitting on the porch in darkness at Hilton Head, hoping to get in at the RBC Heritage [shows he wants to be there].
“The players are not getting that version of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau .
“I had this conversation last night with a player here at Quail Hollow, the idea being that of the 70-something players on LIV Golf, maybe 25 actually want to come back to the PGA Tour.
“I am not sure that Bryson and Jon are in that conversation right now, based on their actions and a lot of their comments.
“Of those 25, how many of them does the PGA Tour actually want back?
“One of the things I just heard in the locker room, which was interesting, was instead of just reenacting the Returning Member Program, which was the program which brought back Brooks, in fact if Jon Rahm and Bryson want to come back, just tell them you need to come back.
“There is going to be no fines, no suspensions, you just have to play your way back.
“That would weed out a lot of players who can’t compete on the PGA Tour any more and probably don’t have the motivation to compete on the PGA Tour.
“I thought it was a brilliant solution to be honest with you.”
Many players will definitely be in the dark over their futures in the sport, which was unthinkable just a short time ago.
But much of the spotlight will undoubtedly fall upon DeChambeau and his fellow superstar Rahm, who previously rejected the chance to return to the PGA Tour.
Their fellow former major champion Cameron Smith was also extended the Returning Member Program offer, but only Koepka decided to accept.
That now looks to be a fantastic decision, although DeChambeau does have a booming YouTube scene to potentially fall back on.
He boasts 2.69 million subscribers, has linked up with the likes of Kevin Hart, Phil Mickelson, Adam Sandler and Carlos Alcaraz among many other high-profile names.
DeChambeau now has grand plans to grow his channel by three times or more, but whether or not that will fulfil the two-time major champion – both financially and from a career perspective – remains to be seen.
Read more:
Bryson DeChambeau confirms one big issue stopping him re-joining the PGA Tour, ‘that’s the truth’
Bryson DeChambeau’s inauthenticity laid bare after his contradictory claims about the PGA Tour
