Bryson DeChambeau appears to have confirmed his LIV Golf exit, telling fans he “gave it everything” to keep the league alive.
LIV Golf has confirmed plans to wind down operations and enter liquidation, abandoning hopes of launching a new version due to a lack of financial backing. Lawyers representing the company confirmed the plans during a bankruptcy hearing in New Jersey on Thursday.
DeChambeau has until November 15 to declare his intention to become a DP World Tour member in 2027, or risk being frozen out of professional golf. He has defended his decision to join LIV from the outset and thanked his supporters in a statement posted on X on Sunday.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley says that Bryson DeChambeau must change if he wants to return to the PGA Tour, adding that the tour ‘hasn’t missed him’
“I’m not going to rewrite the last four years,” DeChambeau wrote.
“I made a decision I believed in, and I’m grateful for what came with it: playing in front of fans new and old around the world who rarely got to see the best players at home. The record crowds in Adelaide and Johannesburg will stick with me for the rest of my life.
“I believed this game could reach more people, in more places, in a new way. I still believe that. And I gave it everything I had to keep team golf alive.
“I want to say thank you to the people who believed in this from the start: the staff, the operations crews, the caddies, and everyone behind the scenes at LIV and Crushers GC who bet their careers on this. You gave everything. And thank you to my Crushers team-mates, our sponsors, and every fan who came out.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Laura Davies discusses how giving DeChambeau a tour lifeline will be a great success for both him and the DP World Tour
“I still believe in team golf. It may look different in the future, but I still believe it’s essential to growing the game.”
The two-time major champion explained last week that he was hopeful the league could “exist forever”, with Dechambeau also revealing he had played a role in plotting out how LIV 2.0 could move forward.
Despite LIV’s impending liquidation, the American golfer remained tight-lipped about his own future:
“Arnold Palmer said no player is bigger than the game, and I want to acknowledge that, along the way, I’ve said some things that didn’t help. Whatever comes next, I’ll approach it with humility and respect for the people who carried this game long before me.
“In December, I’ll compete at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, Gary Player’s event, in front of fans who made my first visit to South Africa unforgettable. Beyond that, I’ll go about whatever is next the right way.
“My passion has been to grow this game. That’s still the goal. Thank you for sticking with me.
“Together we can all grow this great game we love.”
What’s next for DeChambeau?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir discusses how LIV golf has ended up shutting down and what happens now for the golfers under LIV
Analysis by Sky Sports News’ Jamie Weir:
Love him or hate him, DeChambeau has star factor. He puts bums on seats, he commands eyeballs and column inches. He is box office.
Until the bitter end, he believed fully in LIV 2.0, the phoenix from the flames version of the beleaguered and controversial golf tour.
One source told me that in a meeting of LIV’s 13 team captains in August, when the end was seemingly nigh, DeChambeau was the only one who still passionately felt there was a way forward and attempted to win over the other 12, who were resigned to LIV’s fate. No one was willing to take that leap into the unknown with him.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir looks at whether this could be the end of the road for LIV Golf and where does it leave its players?
So where does that leave him?
By virtue of winning the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst, DeChambeau earned a five-year exemption on the DP World Tour. However, the rules state that for every year a major champion fails to take up his membership, they lose a year off the end of this period.
In other words, having failed to take up DP World Tour membership in 2025 and 2026, DeChambeau lost his exemption for 2028 and 2029.
That means he does still have the option of taking up membership for the 2027 season, but must inform the tour of his intention to do so by its deadline of November 15.
Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland
Leave a Reply