If LIV Golf’s Saudi-backed circuit collapses after the 2026 season, Bryson DeChambeau says he will not rush back to the PGA Tour. Instead, the two-time U.S. Open champion told reporters he is prepared to devote more energy to expanding his YouTube presence and to competing selectively — “in tournaments that want me” — while continuing to play the majors he can still access.
Speaking ahead of this week’s LIV event in Virginia, DeChambeau said he was surprised and disappointed when he learned Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would withdraw its backing of LIV after 2026. “I was completely shocked,” he said, adding that just months earlier he had been told LIV had financing through 2032. “And then, you know, I haven’t had any communication. And unfortunately, things are moving on in a different direction.”
Part of DeChambeau’s contingency plan is explicitly commercial: he told ESPN he wants to “grow my YouTube channel three times, maybe even more,” and to add dubbed versions in different languages to broaden his global reach. As of Tuesday night he had just under 2.7 million subscribers. He stressed that such a pivot would not mean giving up golf entirely — he would still practice and play — but that his competitive calendar would be far less tied to full-time tour life.
LIV Golf has acknowledged the PIF’s decision and is searching for new long-term financial partners as it enters what it calls a “strategic transition.” The league insists the 2026 season will go ahead as planned, but the PIF announcement has intensified questions about the venture’s longer-term viability and left players considering alternative futures. DeChambeau said he remains open to some form of LIV’s future but is preparing options if the circuit cannot continue.
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Legal and professional ties to the PGA Tour complicate any possible return. DeChambeau was among the highest-profile players to leave the PGA Tour for LIV in 2022 and was one of 11 golfers who sued the Tour over suspensions of LIV participants; he later withdrew from that litigation in 2023. He did not speculate on specific penalties he might face if he sought to rejoin the PGA Tour, saying only that it would be “quite unfortunate, in my opinion, considering what I could do for them.”
Even without full PGA membership, DeChambeau’s competitive prospects are unusually resilient. His U.S. Open victory in 2024 gives him an exemption into that major through 2034, and his recent string of top-10 finishes in majors extends his automatic entries at the Masters, PGA Championship and The Open to varying degrees. That, he and his advisers appear to believe, would allow a hybrid model: focus on content and commercial opportunities while remaining present on golf’s biggest stages.
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DeChambeau’s comments underscore the shifting calculations for elite players as the broader professional landscape realigns. Some former LIV players have been exploring return pathways to the PGA Tour, while others are weighing content, sponsor and limited-event strategies that keep their profiles high even if full tour status is not immediately available. For now, DeChambeau says he will concentrate on growing his audience and playing where he is welcome — a pragmatic plan if LIV’s current funding structure cannot be sustained.
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