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More than any other golfer trapped in LIV\u2019s tailspin, DeChambeau has options.<\/p>\n
FOX SPORTS, available on Kayo Sports, is streaming The 2026 PGA Tour LIVE & Exclusive | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n At stake is his status as one of the most recognisable, profitable and influential figures in golf, as well as a reputation already tarnished in the eyes of many in recent times.<\/p>\n Bryson DeChambeau faces an uncertain golfing future as LIV Golf hangs on the brink. (Photo by Justin Casterline \/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA \/ Getty Images via AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a look back before analysing what the future may hold.<\/p>\n FROM \u2018JERK\u2019 TO \u2018MAN FOR THE PEOPLE\u2019: THE SCIENTIST TURNS ANTIHERO<\/p>\n DeChambeau became one of the sport\u2019s most prominent figures to joined LIV Golf when he signed on for $US125 million \u2013 roughly the same as Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka and well short of Mickelson\u2019s $200 million and Jon Rahm\u2019s eye-watering $300 million sums.<\/p>\n The American had already long ruffled feathers among golf fans and administrators with his outspoken attitude, brash confidence and style revolving less around traditional strokeplay and more clubbing the ball as hard as humanly possible.<\/p>\n His anti-vax stance during the COVID-19 pandemic, about which he claimed him not being vaccinated was because he would \u201crather give it to people who need it. I don\u2019t need it. I\u2019m a healthy, young individual\u201d, proved polarising; as did a close personal relationship with then and now US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump in a charity challenge with reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n When he described Augusta as a \u201cpar 67 for me, because I can reach all the par-fives in two, no problem\u201d heading into the 2020 Masters, only to finish tied for 34th barely two months after becoming a first-time major champion at the US Open and starting the famed event as the heavy favourite, the schadenfreude was palpable.<\/p>\n Even among his colleagues: when soon-to-be LIV buddy Rahm was asked whether he\u2019d been involved in searching for a DeChambeau lost ball midway through the tournament, the Spaniard quipped \u201cWhich one?\u201d<\/p>\n After teeing off \u2013 figuratively \u2013 at a cameraman for the heinous crime of looking at him during the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic, his complaint that broadcasting the outburst \u201cdamaged his brand\u201d didn\u2019t go down well, either.<\/p>\n \u201cCredit DeChambeau\u2019s optimism in thinking that being shown acting like a jerk would hurt his image rather than merely solidify it,\u201d scribe Eamonn Lynch wrote in Golfweek<\/a>. <\/p>\n He cited his decision to join the Saudi-funded circuit in mid-2022, coming amid an ugly run of form on the PGA Tour, as a \u201cbusiness decision for my family\u2019s future\u201d .<\/p>\n MORE ON LIV GOLF\u2019S FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL<\/p>\n \u2018HATE TO SEE IT\u2019: Shark\u2019s shock verdict on LIV future<\/a><\/p>\n DRASTIC CHANGE: PGA Tour deals LIV stars brutal blow<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018EMBARRASSED\u2019: The \u2018tantrum\u2019 that sparked $6b collapse<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018ONE MORE SHOT\u2019: Bryson\u2019s plea as Rory swipe reignites golf war<\/a><\/p>\n But fast foward two years, and a stunning victory at Winged Foot in 2024 to claim his second US Open revealed a different side to DeChambeau.<\/p>\n The moment when he tossed his ball to a young fan at the PGA Championship earlier that year, then confronted an older man who had snatched it, saw him dubbed a \u201cman for the people\u201d by an onlooker.<\/p>\n He had acknowledged during a strong run at the 2024 Masters that he had \u201cmessed up\u201d with his par-67 dig four years earlier.<\/p>\n And a burgeoning YouTube channel had showed a side to the now-30-year old that few had ever seen before – from hitting balls over his house to try for a hole in one, to attempting to break 50 at public courses while joking with a variety of playing partners including President Trump himself.<\/p>\n PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA – JUNE 16: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States poses with the trophy after winning the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort on June 16, 2024 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images\/AFP (Photo by Gregory Shamus \/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA \/ Getty Images via AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n THE \u2018REFERENDUM ON LIV\u2019 THAT BROKE THE SPELL<\/p>\n This year\u2019s Open marked the fifth consecutive time DeChambeau had snubbed the media following a major championship round.<\/p>\n And where his 2024 US Open victory, and runner-up finish at the Masters that preceded it, gave his legion of fans plenty to root for, he has never hit those heights again on the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n He missed the cut at four of the last six majors, while heading into the final round of the 2025 Masters in second place, one shot behind leader Justin Rose, is the closest he has come to a third major title.<\/p>\n Even that run made him a bigger heel than ever before: golf.com described him as a \u201cperfect villain\u201d \u2026 because challenging him in an epic battle for the green jacket was Rory McIlroy.<\/p>\n The most notable of PGA Tour loyalists, a vocal critic of the LIV defectors, and a man on an 11-year quest for golf\u2019s most prestigious title – and a fifth major – McIlroy\u2019s run to glory via the most dramatic of playoffs captured the world\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n Rory McIlroy celebrates winning the 2025 Masters. (Photo by Richard HEATHCOTE \/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA \/ Getty Images via AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n While McIlroy was producing his \u201cmasterpiece\u201d, in the words of veteran commentator Jim Nantz, his rival put in a stinker, shooting a final-day 75 to fall to equal fifth.<\/p>\n Defeat was symbolic.<\/p>\n Live from the Masters panellist and former pro Brandel Chamblee described McIlroy\u2019s triumph as a \u201creferendum on LIV<\/a>\u201d, while also noting the \u201cpalpable tension\u201d between PGA players and their Saudi-funded counterparts.<\/p>\n \u2018ENTITLED ARROGANCE\u2019: OPEN MELTDOWN SEALS VILLAIN ARC<\/p>\n Any affection for DeChambeau was dealt a further blow by events at The Open last month.<\/p>\n After copping a two-shot penalty for improving his lie midway through a second-round run that shot him up to second at Royal Birkdale, the 32-year old threatened to quit the tournament, and even allegedly asked Trump to call in a Folarin Balogun-esque favour<\/a> and urge officials to rescind the punishment.<\/p>\n While DeChambeau eventually accepted the ban, finishing the tournament 14th, the backlash was fierce.<\/p>\n Timeline of Bryson’s two-shot penalty | 07:35<\/p>\n Chamblee blasted him as \u201cchildish\u201d and \u201cimmature\u201d, while Lynch again delivered a stinging rebuke for Golf Week \u2013 for the man himself, and anyone still in his thrall.<\/p>\n \u201cFor his many admirers, what happened Friday night was excusable \u2014 an understandable reaction to a ruling he felt was unfair,\u201d Lynch wrote<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cFor his affiliated bots and drooling keyboard commandos, it was proof of an establishment conspiracy against LIV Golf. <\/p>\n \u201cFor his team, it was yet another opportunity to demonstrate that they have all the utility of an octogenarian in a whorehouse. <\/p>\n \u201cFor media, it was catnip. For the R&A, it was a clear-cut application of protocol. <\/p>\n Bryson DeChambeau copped a two-shot penalty at the Open – and proceeded to lose the plot.Source: Fox Sports<\/p>\n \u201cFor DeChambeau, it was a grievous injustice.<\/p>\n \u201cBut for players who were watching \u2014 and waiting until 10:50pm local for tee times while the R&A determined if DeChambeau\u2019s threat to no-show was real \u2014 it was a reminder of what they were happy to see head for the exit four years ago: entitled arrogance, simmering rage, infantile outbursts, contempt for fellow competitors, shallow artifice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe DeChambeau Show is occasionally entertaining, perhaps even compelling, but it\u2019s increasingly becoming just a repetitive farce, without the benefit of being funny.\u201d<\/p>\n Most widely reported of all was McIlroy\u2019s response, saying he was \u201cnot fond\u201d of his American foe.<\/p>\n \u201cTo hold the tournament hostage like that, and to have all of us, players, volunteers, everyone waiting on him to depart, I didn\u2019t feel like it was a great look,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Bryson drama in historic Aussie display | 03:15<\/p>\n BRYSON\u2019S \u2018VERY DIFFERENT BOAT\u2019 AMID LIV\u2019S COLLAPSE<\/p>\n Even Lynch, among DeChambeau\u2019s most ardent critics, has acknowledged him as \u201coccasionally entertaining, perhaps even compelling\u201d \u2026 even while describing his brand as \u201cdangerously close to junk status within this game\u201d.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why, despite having hitched his wagon to LIV Golf and emerged as its most marketable asset \u2013 even more so than the far more highly paid Rahm \u2013 he has less to lose than the vast majority of his colleagues should it drown amidst its mounting debts.<\/p>\n Australians Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert, with a far lower profile than DeChambeau, may have no choice but to return to the PGA Tour, and cop heavy and ongoing penalties for their desertion.<\/p>\n Rahm will face similar \u2026 with the added blow of being owed a reported $150 million of his initial LIV contract.<\/p>\n DeChambeau, meanwhile, had his $125 million heavily front-loaded, which has proved a savvy call.<\/p>\n Throughout, he has remained LIV\u2019s biggest proponent, even urging fans, players and prospective investors to give the league \u201cone more shot\u201d ahead of its season finale in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n MciLroy questions LIV players’ value | 00:27<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of potential moving forward,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been an interesting ride, that\u2019s for sure. You know everything that we\u2019ve gone through and the tough moments that we\u2019ve had. <\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s made us stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n Even CEO Scott O\u2019Neil\u2019s reveal that the so-called LIV 2.0, if and when it gets off the ground for 2027, will offer players a chance at greater equity in the league, reducing the previously lucrative cash offers on the table, might not be the deal-breaker it looms as being for many others, Rahm most of all.<\/p>\n \u201cBryson seems to be all in on it,\u201d Lynch told The Golf Channel.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s very much invested in the idea of this league.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s probably a guy who would be easily persuaded in terms of the equity value, thinking that he can build something up.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he\u2019s not owed any more money by them at this point \u2026 so he\u2019s in a very different boat from a guy who might still be owed nine figures by LIV.\u201d<\/p>\n In that context, LIV officials will be praying a parting message from DeChambeau on social media following the Indianapolis event, where he wrote<\/a> \u201cIt was a good run\u201d, is more a cheeky dig at the league\u2019s detractors than a farewell.<\/p>\n If that\u2019s DeChambeau\u2019s mindset, then emerging reports that the league will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy might not prove a deterrent, either.<\/p>\n