Bryson DeChambeau plans to focus on YouTube when LIV Golf ends

Sterling, Va. — If LIV Golf can’t survive beyond this season without the public investment fund’s purse strings, the two-time major champion Bryson DeChambeau Tuesday said he is ready to grow his YouTube channel and play in tournaments that want him.

DeChambeau, 32, said he’s had some conversations with the PGA Tour, but not specifically about what his potential path back to the former circuit might look like if LIV folds.

“I think, from my perspective, I’d like to triple my YouTube channel, maybe more,” DeChambeau said while practicing Tuesday in preparation for this week’s LIV Golf Tournament at Trump National Golf Club.

“I would love to. I want to do a bunch of dubbing in different languages, which gives the world more reasons to watch YouTube. And then I want to play tournaments that want me.”

While DeChambeau didn’t get specific, he did suggest that the PGA Tour is prepared to punish him severely if he chooses to return.

DeChambeau was one of the biggest stars to join the breakaway circuit in June 2022, and he was among 11 golfers who sued the PGA Tour later that year, alleging that it used its monopoly power to unfairly suspend players who joined LIV Golf. He withdrew from the federal case in May 2023.

On Tuesday, DeChambeau described the potential punishment from the PGA Tour as “pretty unfortunate in my opinion considering what I can do for them.”

At the same time, DeChambeau suggested that LIV Golf and the PGA Tour work together to reunite men’s professional golf.

The PGA Tour now appears to have the upper hand, after the PIF announced last week that it would no longer fund the circuit with a $30 million purse.

“The ego needs to be dropped,” says DeChambeau. “Everybody needs to come with a level-headed playing field with an opportunistic mindset to grow the game of golf. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I do what I do on YouTube.”

Before last week’s announcement, DeChambeau believed the PIF would fund LIV Golf through at least the 2032 season.

“I was completely shocked,” DeChambeau said. “I didn’t expect it. A few months before, it was like, ‘We’re here until 2032. We’re funded until 2032,’ and so I told everybody, and that’s what I was told.

“And then, you know, I had no contact. And unfortunately, things went the other way. Obviously, they wanted to move.”

A potential merger between the tours would require concessions from both sides, DeChambeau said.

“If we have a great business model and they’re very interested in joining forces, that’s a kumbaya moment, right?” Dechambu said. “So, it’s our job to bring a good business plan to (the top company). The team franchises, there’s enough profit now where we can sell them for about $200 million, and that’s not even talking about my team.

“I think it requires a little bit of everyone just letting their guard down and everyone coming together and going, ‘OK, what’s the best way to play golf?'”

DeChambeau said he is confident that LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil and the league’s new independent board of directors and advisors will develop a solid business plan that will attract new investors.

“There are some different models,” DeChambeau said. “Look, (the PGA Tour) isn’t doing well either. Let’s be honest about the situation. They’ve got the media. They’re all on the sidelines that help pump it up. But they’re reducing field size, cutting employees and restructuring their business.”

It won’t take long for DeChambeau to decide his future. His contract with LIV Golf expires after this season.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” DeChambeau said when asked if he had concerns about PIF not paying the remainder of his contract.

Earlier on Tuesday, O’Neill was asked if DeChambeau would have a new contract before he took LIV Golf to market.

“Well, that’s an interesting question,” O’Neill said. “I’m not sure. We’ll sort it out and work it out. I appreciate the question. It’s Bryson’s special. He’s different and special. … He’s smart, he’s driven, he’s committed, and he’s a heck of a partner.”