Bryson DeChambeau turned down his best chance to return to the PGA Tour and now that door may be permanently closed, as Saudi Arabia is expected to pull all financial support from LIV Golf after the 2026 season ends, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The two-time U.S. Open champion declined a one-time reinstatement offer the Tour extended to him alongside Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith, a decision that now looks far more consequential than it did when he made it.
Bryson DeChambeau’s PGA Tour Return Clouded
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will stop bankrolling LIV Golf after this season, according to The Wall Street Journal, ending a project that absorbed more than $6 billion in PIF investment and posted losses exceeding $1 billion through its UK arm alone between 2022 and 2024, per talkSPORT. LIV Golf is already in discussions with outside investors, but finding a buyer willing to fund hundreds of millions in prize money and player contracts with little prospect of a return is a steep hill to climb, to say the least.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp set the tone for what comes next.
“There were rules, and they were broken,” Rolapp said, as quoted by WSJ. “With rules comes accountability.”
The PGA Tour had previously offered DeChambeau, Rahm, and Smith a path back through a limited reinstatement window, the same program five-time major champion Brooks Koepka used to rejoin the circuit this year. Koepka’s return cost him up to $90 million in charitable contributions and forfeited bonuses and equity. DeChambeau, Rahm, and Smith all passed, per talkSPORT.
Bryson DeChambeau Sought $500 Million LIV Contract
As recently as April 22, DeChambeau was publicly signaling his intent to stay with LIV regardless of the financial turbulence. The 32-year-old said he was still working through a potential new contract with the league, according to a BBC Sport report.
“As long as LIV is here, I would figure out a way for it to make sense,” DeChambeau said, as quoted by the BBC. “We’re still working on a potential contract. I haven’t given up on that and I think there will be a solution.”
Reports have placed his asking price for a new LIV deal at $500 million, per the BBC Sport report.
“It’s a start-up, right? And so there’s going to be times where we’re squeezed and punched. This is one of those moments,” DeChambeau said, according to the BBC.
LIV CEO Scott O’Neil made similar pledges to keep the organization operational, telling reporters at the Mexico City event that the league was working to build a sustainable business model, comments that were subsequently removed by TNT Sports, per talkSPORT.
PGA Tour Sets Steep Price for LIV Golf Stars
Rolapp was direct about the Tour’s posture toward those who not only left but actively fought the organization in court. DeChambeau was part of a group of LIV players who filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging the Tour’s suspension policy. That litigation generated bitterness among players who stayed and cost the Tour significant legal fees before it was dropped. Koepka, notably, never joined that suit, a distinction Rolapp cited in explaining why his return could not be used as a precedent.
Patrick Reed carved out a separate path by resigning his Tour membership before joining LIV, meaning he never violated his contract outright. That distinction allowed him to pursue standard reinstatement routes through Europe’s DP World Tour, where he is currently on track to regain his card for 2027, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Players who broke their contracts and participated in the antitrust action face steeper obstacles, and Rolapp offered them little comfort.
“We’re interested in having the best players who can help our tour,” he told WSJ. “Not every player can do that.”
Whether DeChambeau, a two-time major champion, LIV’s most prominent star, and a golfer with more than 1.5 million YouTube subscribers, qualifies under that standard is now one of professional golf’s most consequential questions.
Bryson DeChambeau PGA Return in Doubt After Saudis Pull LIV Funding: WSJ Report