Bryson DeChambeau made it clear: He is staying with LIV Golf — for now.
The two-time U.S. Open champion is entering the final year of his contract with the Saudi-backed breakout league, and he now has no shortage of leverage. After Brooks Koepka bolted LIV to rejoin the PGA Tour, the Tour’s new returning member program could have allowed DeChambeau to follow, if he did so before Feb. 2.
At a LIV press conference earlier this week, DeChambeau shot down any speculation of a 2026 move, but he also didn’t sound like someone who is planning to spend the next decade or two with LIV.
“I mean, look, I’m contracted through 2026, and I’m excited about this year,” DeChambeau said flatly to reporters at the press conference on Jan. 13.
Bryson DeChambeau Not Fully Committed to LIV?
That comes shortly after Golf Digest’s Joel Beall reported there were “whispers” DeChambeau wanted out and could be next after Koepka.
DeChambeau has not been shy about his contract status, and it also sounds like he’d like a little more input on the future of LIV moving forward. He confirmed the final year in an interview with Flushing It earlier in the offseason. While he didn’t sound like someone ready to make an imminent exit, he also didn’t mince words when it came to the near-term future for LIV.
“Things have got to change. Things have got to improve,” DeChambeau told Flushing It. ” … I don’t run this thing at all. I don’t really have much say, to be honest with you. Which is funny, but it is what it is, right? And you know, sometimes I wish I had more say, but that’s life, and I don’t run the organization, and I trust them to do that.”
Bryson’s Leverage Play Extends to Social Media
In addition to the tepid endorsement of his standing on LIV, DeChambeau made waves after the Koepka announcement by posting an Instagram story of him standing next to an exit sign. Asked about it at the press conference, DeChambeau dismissed it as just a social media trend.
Golf Channel’s Eamon Lynch thinks it’s clearly DeChambeau trying to use the leverage he has one of the most popular golfers in the world who now has real options.
“Bryson’s clearly playing the leverage game, and this happened even before Brooks Koepka left LIV,” Lynch said on Golf Channel. “Bryson kept saying in public ‘I’m signed through 2026, and we’ll see what happens.’ Now he’s clearly playing a little game. Posing by the exit sign, it just proves that Bryson’s not surrounded by smart people. That evidence just comes time and time again.
“It’s what he sees as a leverage play, also risks alienating either side of the coin here who might actually want him back. He’s playing for social engagement on one side and trying gin up more money out of LIV on the other side, and he ultimately could end up overplaying his hand. If he wanted to leave LIV, I don’t think he’d be playing the games in public to the extent that he is. It’s a tease.”
Bryson DeChambeau (Unconvincingly) Commits to LIV Golf