LIV It’s starting to feel like the future of golf depends on the future of Bryson DeChambeau. DeChambeau is one of two remaining superstars on the Saudi-funded tour, along with Jon Rahm, and is currently in the final year of his contract. DeChambeau has been pressed about his future by various media outlets following the sudden departures of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed this winter. So far, he hasn’t been forthcoming, but in a revealing interview with Today’s Golfer this week, the two-time U.S. Open champion admitted he’s not entirely sold on the league’s impending move to a 72-hole format.
“It’s definitely changed from what was originally stated,” DeChambeau told Today’s Golfer. “So there are some movements that we’ve all been interested in and thought, ‘Why that movement?’ Because we were told this was going to happen, so that’s definitely led us to think about it differently.
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I have a contract for this year, so I’m going to work on it there and see what happens after that. Look, it’s been 72 holes and things have changed, but we’re still excited to play professionally, play for our cause, and go all over the world. I think it will be great for our (Crushers GC) team. Is that what we ultimately signed up for? No, so I think we should be different, so I’m a little apathetic right now.
I hope it will work in my favor over time, but I don’t know. I don’t really understand. We didn’t sign up to play No. 72. ”
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Over the past six weeks, DeChambeau has repeated the refrain, “I’m signed for this year, whatever happens after that.” But his comments on the format change are more straightforward than we’ve heard from the Crushers captain thus far. It’s worth noting that DeChambeau heads up a hugely popular YouTube channel with around 2.6 million followers. Over the past few years, DeChambeau has appeared in 246 different videos on his channel, with guests ranging from John Daly to Stephen Curry to President Donald Trump. A few weeks ago, DeChambeau went full-time on YouTube and said playing in the majors on waivers was an “incredibly viable option.”
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Clearly, DeChambeau is not convinced that playing 25% more golf per tournament is in his best interest, at least not at the original 54-hole salary he agreed to, especially given the travel requirements of LIV golf.
Interestingly, Jon Rahm is perhaps the biggest proponent of LIV’s new format changes, continuing to push for OWGR points and broader golf legitimacy for the struggling league. As the season progresses and DeChambeau’s contract negotiations progress, it’s easy to imagine a tug-of-war for influence unfolding between the two sides behind the scenes. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see, but fans around the world can agree that an “indifferent” DeChambeau isn’t the best thing for golf.
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