Bryson DeChambeau realizes that the PGA Tour-LIV Golf saga has driven fans from the game, perhaps in sizable numbers, and he feels that a deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf's owner, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, is necessary.
“It needs to happen fast,” DeChambeau said Wednesday at the LIV Golf event at Trump National Doral in Florida. “It’s not a two-year thing. Like it needs to happen quicker rather than later just for the good of the sport. Too many people are losing interest.”
Ratings for PGA Tour events have taken a hammering in 2024, with many events seeing 20 and 30 percent decreases in year-over-year tournament viewership. Even the PGA Tour's flagship event, The Players, saw a significant audience decrease over 2023. Meanwhile, LIV Golf TV ratings in the United States continue to be paltry compared to other golf tours and sports -- even with several PGA Tour events ceding the viewing stage to golf because of poor weather at several events forcing cancelled play or delayed rounds.
On the Monday after The Players, the PGA Tour Enterprises board members, including player directors, met PIF governor Yasir Al Rumayyan in the Bahamas in what was dubbed a "meet-and-greet." While the event reportedly did not do much to change the issues at an impasse in a PGA Tour-PIF negotiation, it is seen as a first step to furthering a potential agreement. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour has already brought on private investment from Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of American sports owners headed by Fenway Sports Group, to the tune of $3 billion in potential commitments.
DeChambeau has ideas on how he would like to see the PGA Tour and LIV Golf come back together, but he ultimately has little say in the matter.
“We can give input," he said. "We can have little moments where we say, hey, we think this would be a good idea or that would be a good idea, but ultimately, it's up to the guys up top to figure it out and figure it out quickly because we can't keep going this direction."
DeChambeau's comments seem to mark a turning point for him and other LIV Golf players, perhaps recognizing the tumult in the game's last two years has done more than make more pro golfers extraordinarily wealthy.
LIV Golf players can't get Official World Golf Ranking points, cannot compete in PGA Tour events and have limited opportunities to qualify for major championships. PGA Tour players are also not universally interested in welcoming back LIV Golf players back to the PGA Tour or integrating some form of team golf into the pro golf calendar. However, without a deal, the Saudis may continue poaching pro golfers away from the PGA Tour well into the future with enormous guaranteed money. The Saudis view professional golf, and professional sports, as a potential gateway to broader cultural acceptance and a way to find more economic development partners.
“It's not sustainable for sure, and we all respect that and recognize that and want the best for the game of golf," DeChambeau said of the multi-year rift in the game. "We all love this game and we want to keep playing it and we want to keep competing.
“The only answer is for us to somehow come together in some sort of terms where it makes sense and for us to be playing all again in somewhat of the same boat. It's great to have the majors where we come together, but we want to be competing, at least I want to be competing every week, with all of the best players in the world.”
