Bryson DeChambeau will be in for a big surprise if he expects to be welcomed back with open arms should he decide to leave LIV Golf and return to the PGA Tour.
There is no player who will have a bigger say on what the future holds for LIV Golf than DeChambeau.
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His contract expires at the end of the year. And with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia set to withdraw their financial support for the league after this season, DeChambeau has a perfect opportunity to walk away.
How PGA Tour players feel about the prospect of Bryson DeChambeau returning
It would be a huge boost for LIV’s future if DeChambeau decided to stay. He has certainly looked into what a potential PGA Tour return would look like.
DeChambeau’s management met with PGA Tour officials during The Masters to discuss the pathway. But DeChambeau has since claimed that the players will decide whether he can come back.
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Obviously, those on the PGA Tour should want the strongest product possible. However, that does not mean that they would be happy about the prospect of the two-time US Open champion returning, as Rex Hoggard told the Golf Channel Podcast.
Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
“Bryson DeChambeau’s own words are, and one of the lines in the sand that he’s drawing is he comes back to the PGA Tour only if ‘they’, players, ‘want me back’. The answer to that, don’t ask a question you don’t want an answer to, is essentially going to be the lead to my story. Because trust me, no-one really wants you back,” he said.
“You had the lawsuit, you had a lot to say about the PGA Tour over the years. Yeah, there’s a lot of people in Ponte Vedra Beach who have big offices that love the idea that Bryson would come back to the PGA Tour. I think him returning would make a better product. However, none of the players have an interest in him coming back.”
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Why leaving LIV Golf would be so difficult for Bryson DeChambeau
DeChambeau has done a fantastic job of changing his image over the last five years, with his time on LIV Golf playing an important role in that transformation.
He has become one of the most popular players in the current game. However, the fact remains that LIV is facing an incredibly uncertain future despite having the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm in their ranks.
They have not managed to tip the balance of power in LIV’s direction. And while he will not view joining LIV as a mistake, whatever happens next, DeChambeau would be accepting a defeat should he walk away in the coming months.
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He has invested so much in LIV since jumping from the PGA Tour in 2022, so it would be no surprise if he felt compelled to give the league every opportunity to get back on track.
The fact that he would not be loved in the same way back on the PGA Tour will surely also come into his thinking.
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