Bryson DeChambeau’s many achievements include attracting more than 100 million TikTok viewers to his attempt to make a back-garden hole in one over his glass mansion. He starts this year with the pulling power to rock the foundations of another sporting establishment. The fate of LIV Golf is now very much in his hands.
Make no mistake, the departure of Brooks Koepka from LIV was a huge blow to the team circuit. The Floridian never peddled the grow-the-game guff and last year told The Times which PGA Tour events he would still like to play in, but he was one of LIV’s big three, alongside DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. Phil Mickelson has become better known for Maga-waving social media posts of late and Cameron Smith’s star has fallen dramatically since the 2022 Open. DeChambeau, the most unequivocal of LIV supporters, is crucial to the tour’s reputation and appeal. If he leaves, it will be disastrous for the Saudi-funded venture.
There might have been little to worry LIV bosses until the double US Open champion DeChambeau, whose $100million deal expires in 2026, said in an interview with Flushing It Golf: “Things have got to change. Things have got to improve.”
DeChambeau’s present deal with LIV is set to expire at the end of the 2026 season
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It should be added that DeChambeau also stated LIV was where he wanted to be and that the chief executive, Scott O’Neil, had done “a fabulous job”, but he also said: “I want to grow team golf across the globe, but it has to be right and there’s a lot of things that have to be done in order for it to be right. Brooks leaving definitely throws in some unique things.” He said a deal could happen but added: “You never know. Life throws curveballs.”
Suffice it to say that Koepka’s departure underlines DeChambeau’s worth to all parties. He has unparalleled social media presence, with almost four million more Instagram followers than Rahm, and is one player to have contended more regularly at the majors since moving to LIV — one win, two runner-up spots and three additional top-six finishes in the past three years.
Insiders suggest that DeChambeau, 32, will be happy to stay if he gets his just rewards. Some are just wondering if he might see YouTube as his primary venture. If that sounds fanciful just look at how streaming giants Netflix have fawned over an untalented influencer like Jake Paul.
Meanwhile, others are happy to use this scenario to belittle LIV, which is holding its Promotions event — its first tournament of 2026 — in Florida this week. The likes of Chris Wood, Alexander Levy and Chase Koepka (Brooks’s younger brother) are competing for three wild-card spots on the tour, but off-season signings have been unspectacular. The Times revealed that Elvis Smylie and Thomas Detry are joining Victor Perez and Laurie Canter at LIV. Small beer compared with the stellar coups of old, but O’Neil is smart and Smylie, the 23-year-old Australian, at least fits the new stated target of young rising stars.
Koepka has said the sum total of nothing about his decision, but his management said it was the right time for him to spend more time at home; in October his wife, Jena, announced she had miscarried, and the couple have previously gone through the ordeal of their son, Crew, spending 20 days in intensive care in 2023.
Koepka has remained quiet about his decision to quit LIV
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Family matters to Koepka, who has never been overly enamoured of tour golf — he has won more majors than regular PGA Tour events — but it is hard to see him following Mito Pereira into premature retirement.
Immediately after Koepka’s exit was confirmed, the PGA Tour issued a statement saying: “Brooks Koepka is a highly accomplished professional and we wish him and his family continued success. The PGA Tour continues to offer the best professional golfers the most competitive, challenging and lucrative environment in which to pursue greatness.”
It was a gloat more than a statement, but if the PGA Tour offers a route back it will have to navigate its own stance of making LIV players serve a one-year ban beforehand. Even unaffiliated players showing up at this week’s qualifying event face that prospect. However, the PGA Tour has always had a less than transparent approach to punishing players, so it is feasible that it will rewrite the rules or find a loophole for members who are multiple major winners. DeChambeau warned: “If there’s a special exemption it definitely opens the doors for others to do the same, which, you know, it’s a slippery slope for sure.”
DeChambeau, thus, finds himself in the perfect position. He can watch to see what happens with Koepka and use it as leverage for his negotiations with LIV Golf.
LIV Golf switches to TNT SportsLIV Golf will move from ITV to TNT Sports from this season after signing a multi-year deal to show all 14 events. The broadcaster and its streaming platform, discovery+, will start its coverage in Riyadh next month. The company has not released details of presenters or how it plans to cover what are now 72-hole, four-day events. In February LIV struck an ITV deal that meant LIV was the only free-to-air golf available in the UK. TNT’s portfolio includes the Premier League and Gallagher Prem rugby, but it has received plenty of flak for its coverage of the Ashes with some commentators not travelling to Australia.
After years of stalemate in unification talks, some issues will reach a conclusion in 2026. The PGA Tour will decide whether it will radically reduce its number of events each season to about 20 from next February, and the Official World Golf Ranking will decide whether to acknowledge LIV Golf.
The situation with Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton’s appeals against DP World Tour sanctions will also be resolved. They are likely to lose and be barred from the Ryder Cup unless they pay their fines. Last year they were able to play in Europe’s winning team, pending the appeal. Expect a compromise because it is an undeniably bad look for the Tour to fine members up to £100,000 each time they play a conflicting LIV event while lauding their roles at Bethpage.
The situation surrounding Rahm and Hatton’s appeals against DP World Tour sanctions is set to be resolved this year
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LIV felt it had agreed a deal on sanctions last year but it fell through, and the decision to make its players pay their own fines from New Year’s Day was a negotiating tactic to get back to the table. The official line is that the legal teams are still working on it. Good luck to them if they are on an hourly rate. Intriguingly, Rahm has said this week that he thinks the issue will “slowly go away”.
Koepka missed the November deadline to apply for DP World Tour membership, but he is a five-times major winner and will get plenty of sponsor invites; he played four events in a month after last year’s LIV season, and Dustin Johnson, another LIV major winner, is booked in for this month’s Dubai Desert Classic. Meanwhile, the financial deal that the DP World Tour has with the PGA Tour, worth £21.5million in shortfall funding in 2024, ends next year. If that is not renegotiated, the Saudi Public Investment Fund will look very attractive to the DP World Tour.
Elsewhere in 2026, Rory McIlroy’s follow-up to his grand-slam glory will be fascinating, and there are high hopes that home stars Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Lottie Woad and Charley Hull can use their 2025 success as a platform for major tilts. There is also a Solheim Cup in the Netherlands.
There could be other big changes. Tiger Woods is now 50, undergoing rehab after a seventh back surgery, and could shuffle on to the PGA Tour Champions — for over-50s — if his body and pride allow. It is also quite possible that we get another career grand slam. Scottie Scheffler needs to win the US Open to complete a full set of majors and gets his first chance to join the now six-man club at Shinnecock Hills, scene of Koepka’s second major triumph in 2018.
Scheffler is indisputably the best player in the world as we enter 2026. The most powerful may be DeChambeau.
2026 majors at a glanceThe Masters April 9-12, Augusta National. Champion Rory McIlroyPGA Championship May 14-17, Aronimink Golf club. Champion Scottie SchefflerUS Open June 18-21, Shinnecock. Champion JJ SpaunThe Open July 16-19, Royal Birkdale. Champion Scheffler