LIV golf rebel Bryson DeChambeau sends PGA Tour warning

30/12/2023 16:54

In a clear threat to the PGA Tour, Bryson DeChambeau declared that LIV Golf will become a “dominant force” in the professional golf industry.

DeChambeau was one of the most well-known players to join the LIV set-up after leaving the PGA Tour last summer. Tensions between the competing circuits were high at the time, but since a framework deal was announced in June, the antagonism has subsided a little.

The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) and the PGA Tour are now negotiating a contract that will see the Tour collaborate with the breakaway league going ahead.

There were some questions about what the contract would mean for LIV once it was announced, even though it is evident that the Saudi fund was eager to support the PGA Tour. DeChambeau, the face of LIV, has cautioned that the breakaway league will not be going away anytime soon.

“In the end, when this is all said about LIV and done, five years out from now LIV is going to exist,” he told the Good Good Podcast.

“LIV is going to be a dominant force. I don’t know what the landscape will look like or if it will even be called LIV, but I can say that it will be here. Team golf will be here to stay.

“I know in my heart that the team aspect will continue to permeate through the game of golf for as long as I’m alive. That’s my opinion. I could be wrong, but from everything that I feel, the sentiment, the movement, the way things are headed, I do believe that LIV will be here to stay."

The deadline of December 31 for the two opponents to finalise an agreement has not yet been met, even though the planned peace pact was announced in June. Even while DeChambeau is optimistic that an agreement will ultimately be reached, he finds the wait to be frustrating.

When asked if he thought the two tours would at last find peace, he said: “Yeah, a thousand per cent. And they’re working on it now. And it’s going to be a difficult road because there’s a lot of people with a lot of agendas. It’s so political. And it’s very disappointing. It’s disappointing because something should have been done a long time ago.

“It should have been over three or four years ago and it have been unbelievable for the game of golf."

Earlier this month, the PGA Tour revealed they had reached a second agreement as part of the new for-profit entity, but not with the Saudis.

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