With the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund withdrawing from LIV Golf after the 2026 season, everyone wonders what will happen next. What’s next for the breakaway league? And what’s next for her players, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.
This week at LIV Virginia, Rahm said he doesn’t “see a way out” of his current contract with LIV, which runs for several more years. As for DeChambeau, whose contract expires after the 2026 season, he told several media outlets, including ESPN AND Sports Illustratedthat he is prepared for focuses on growing his YouTube channel while playing in the tournaments that “love it” LIV should go away. DeChambeau acknowledged that his team has spoken with the PGA Tour, but would not disclose the nature of the talks. The two-time US Open champion said scratch it would be after all to members of the PGA Tour to decide if they want him back.
Golf Channel’s Gary Williams joined the last episode of subparagraph podcast to discuss where LIV goes from here and whether or not he thinks DeChambeau is serious about focusing on YouTube and playing with the big four.
“No, not quite,” Williams told co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “He’s the one. He’s also the guy who, when he was coming up, got crazy about long drives and started taking part in long car races. Which people were going, it’ll be debilitating for you to put the results in a box. No, he won’t.”
Williams noted that it would be “disappointing” if DeChambeau chose to prioritize YouTube over competitive professional golf as he is currently in the midst of his major championship window.
“It’s funny that he’s suggesting (focusing on YouTube),” Williams said. “If he does, it’s disappointing in that respect — I give him tremendous respect for that: He’s figured out Augusta National to a point where he almost had no idea how to solve that Rubik’s Cube. He struggles on almost every course. … He’s always going to be a factor in a U.S. Open. He’s probably always going to be a factor first to be sure in the PGA. I give him credit for that, and if he does, he doesn’t will continue to fight in the major championships.
When Brooks Koepka left LIV Golf to return to the PGA Tour last December, DeChambeau had all the leverage in contract negotiations with LIV and PIF. Now that the PIF is out of the equation, Williams sees the PGA Tour as the only option for DeChambeau. The leverage he once had is gone.
“But what happened to him, my analogy in terms of what he thought he needed to play was, the Yankees and the Dodgers are making offers for him and now the Dodgers are no longer interested,” Williams said. “This is the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. So are the Yankees, the PGA Tour, going to bid against themselves? No, they’re not.”
