Johnson Wagner believes that Bryson DeChambeau will leave LIV Golf at the end of the season, leaving the league struggling to continue into 2027.
There is still a large question mark hanging over what the long-term future holds for LIV Golf.
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For much of the season, Scott O’Neil’s focus has been on sourcing new investment for the league.
Johnson Wagner thinks Bryson DeChambeau will look to leave LIV Golf
Players had been awaiting concrete news regarding fresh investment as the end of the current season looms. There are serious doubts about whether the Team Championship will take place later this month.
Max Greyserman backed LIV Golf to find new investors due to the amount of money in private equity. However, the PGA Tour player suggested that those investors would be foolish to expect any significant return with interest in LIV dwindling.
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Interestingly, Johnson Wagner thinks that the league is in even greater trouble. Speaking on CBS before Scott O’Neil’s statement on Wednesday, Wagner predicted that LIV will struggle to keep its two biggest stars
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“I don’t see it [continuing], definitely not with Bryson, and I would imagine if Rahm can get out, he will as well,” he said.
“I heard someone talking the other day about potentially it could be a different pathway, kind of like a Champions Tour. Get rid of the World Golf Ranking points and be a place that 45 to 60 year olds can go play for a little bit of money. I don’t know, I don’t think it will be around at all.”
The Presidents Cup backed to be a big winner if LIV Golf does fold
There will be plenty of winners if LIV Golf does cease to exist at some stage in the coming years.
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The DP World Tour will likely see a raft of names play a full schedule in an attempt to get back to the PGA Tour. Meanwhile, it may be the case that the likes of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau benefit by getting to return to their former tour.
But there is another big winner, the Presidents Cup. LIV’s formation in 2022 caused all sorts of issues for an event that was already struggling to capture the imagination.
However, Wagner thinks that could all change if the International Team gets to pick from a much wider pool of players.
“It’s a shame back in 2022 when LIV first started, you had Cam Smith win The Players Championship and The Open Championship, and poor captain Trevor Immelman had this influx of defectors to LIV right before that Presidents Cup. They played well, they fought hard. It wasn’t all that close, but think about all those guys that have played Presidents Cup. Schwartzel, Oosthuizen, even Abraham Ancer, Mito Pereira,” he said.
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“There’s a lot of young international talent sitting over there. I think it would be incredible if they could somehow get them back in the fold for the Presidents Cup, make the tournament a lot more interesting.”
While you can understand why the PGA Tour has made no attempt to agree a deal that would see LIV players made available for the Presidents Cup, there should certainly be something in place if the league does disappear.
If the likes of Lucas Herbert and Elvis Smylie are going to play almost exclusively on the DP World Tour in 2028, the door should be open for them to make the team at Kingston Heath.
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