“I’m contracted through 2026, so, excited about this year.”
Bryson DeChambeau pledging his allegiance to LIV wasn’t quite on Leonardo DiCaprio’s level when playing Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street.
That was all he had to say on the matter, but he didn’t really need to say more as the lines were easy to read between. It was non-committal at best, and openly flirtatious at worst as far as LIV is concerned.
But when compared to what Patrick Reed said to James Corrigan of The Telegraph, DeChambeau is LIV to the core.
“I definitely would have to think about it,” Reed said when asked if he’d consider moving back to the PGA Tour if the Returning Member Program which allowed Brooks Koepka back into the fold was extended to cover major champions from 2018 onwards.
“I always enjoyed my time out there on the PGA Tour. I mean, let’s be honest, it’s the best tour in the world. Look at what they’ve done in golf,” he went on to say.
Is Patrick Reed one of the top 10 golfers on the planet? No, he’s not. But he’s currently ranked 44th in the OWGR despite not receiving any points for more than half of his tournament starts over the past few years.
That’s impressive in itself, and Reed’s presence in many DP World Tour fields – such as this week in Dubai for the Hero Dubai Desert Classic – makes those events that little bit more interesting.
Love him or hate him, he’d do the same for most PGA Tour events.
Was he just giving an honest opinion to Corrigan, or was it a calculated move designed to forge a path back to the Tour where he made his name, became a three-time Ryder Cup player, and a Masters champion?
It doesn’t really matter. Either way, for a LIV player to openly admit that the PGA Tour was the “best tour in the world” was a significant blow, and the suggestion that he’d be interested in following Koepka out the door is worrying for LIV’s hierarchy.
The Returning Member Program, of course, only allowed for Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith and DeChambeau to return to the PGA Tour. Smith, has no interest in returning, and Rahm’s contract is believed to be significantly longer and more watertight than those who initially made the move.
The question for Brian Rolapp and the PGA Tour is whether they should now move onto the offensive and extend their offer to the likes of Reed, and a select few others.
I would argue that it would be in the PGA Tour’s best interests to do so.
Since LIV’s arrival, it’s been a hostile environment with one side battening down the hatches and the other probing for weakness and picking off targets at various intervals.
Koepka’s departure marks the first real counterstrike from the PGA Tour, even if it was more a case of it falling into their lap.
In football, it would be classed as ‘tapping up’ and against transfer regulations, but no such rule exists in professional golf.
The PGA Tour should reach out to Reed, Joaquin Niemann, and Tyrrell Hatton, in addition to Rahm, Smith and DeChambeau. Those six – or even a couple of those six – returning to the PGA Tour would add additional strength, but the damage it would do to LIV would be tenfold.
Would it be well received by the PGA Tour rank and file? It’s extremely doubtful, but you’re never going to please everybody.
That’s simply the cost of doing business.
And especially since the launch of PGA Tour Enterprises with the investment from the Strategic Sports Group, the PGA Tour is living very much in the business world.
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