With LIV Golf shutting down, it’s still unclear what Bryson DeChambeau is going to do next
DeChambeau posted his first statement on Sunday since LIV Golf collapsed earlier this week, and committed to playing in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa in December. That event, hosted by Gary Player, is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour.
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Beyond that, he said, “I’ll go about whatever is next the right way.”
“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,” DeChambeau said. “Whatever comes next, I’ll approach it with humility and respect for the people who carried this game long before me … 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.”
DeChambeau had been all-in on “LIV 2.0” in recent weeks, and even said on a podcast last month that he thought the new version of the league made “full financial sense” and could exist “forever.” That, clearly, wasn’t the case.
BC Partners dropped its plan to fund LIV Golf in 2027 and help the league transition into “LIV 2.0” earlier this week, which led to LIV Golf shutting down for good. The league, which once caused so much chaos in the golf world, had been struggling to find a path forward after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced earlier this year that it would stop funding it.
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DeChambeau won twice with LIV Golf this past season and finished second in the season-long race. He missed the cut at three of the four major championships in 2026. He did go T14 at the British Open, but only after a wild, second-round penalty at Royal Birkdale.
DeChambeau was one of the biggest names to jump to LIV Golf in the first place, and he signed a deal reportedly worth more than $100 million to do so. While it didn’t end the way he thought it would, DeChambeau said he doesn’t regret the move.
“I’m not going to rewrite the last four years. 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,” he said. “The record crowds in Adelaide and Johannesburg will stick with me for the rest of my life.
“I believed this game can 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 still believe in team golf. It may look different in the future, but I still believe it’s essential to growing the game.”
The DP World Tour has reportedly told DeChambeau that he has full status with their league in 2027 if he wants it, though he only has until Nov. 15 to commit. He could play with them for a full season and earn his PGA Tour status that way, something that Patrick Reed has been doing all year after his earlier departure from LIV Golf.
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Or, DeChambeau could try to strike a deal with the PGA Tour to return early. Brooks Koepka received a deal in January through the “Returning Member’s Program,” but it cost him an estimated $85 million in earnings. It’s unclear if that’ll be offered again, or what it would look like.
DeChambeau has also said he could just keep doing his own thing and playing the major championships while growing his YouTube channel. That path wouldn’t be sustainable long-term, unless he keeps winning majors and earning exemptions into those tournaments.
Clearly, DeChambeau has a decision to make. And he’s going to have to make it soon.
