Bryson: ‘It’s time to give the fans what they want’

“It’s time to give the fans what they want,” said Bryson DeChambeau as he sat alongside his fellow Crushers GC teammates for press duties ahead of the inaugural LIV event in South Africa.

And what the fans want, according to the two-time U.S. Open champion who prevailed in a playoff in last week’s LIV Golf Singapore is a made-for-TV match that would include Tiger Woods and himself in a LIV versus TGL encounter.

“How about the Crushers goes up against Jupiter Links in an 18-hole match, 4-v-4 stroke play,” DeChambeau said. “We can just call them out right now and say let’s go. Let’s do it.”

DeChambeau, whose YouTube channel, complete with guest appearances by the likes of Donald Trump, Steph Curry, and Carlos Alcaraz, has seen his popularity soar, believes that team golf and potential rivalries could see golf’s popularity spike among people who don’t necessarily play the sport themselves, much like the NFL which continues to prove the most popular televised sport in the United States.

“It’ll never be a major, obviously, but having team golf rivalries, whether it’s just the Crushers versus Southern Guards or whatnot is great,” he said, “but imagine a scenario where we’re going up against Jupiter Links on an 18-hole showcase, going up against each other on Netflix or whoever wants to put it on a show.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunity for teams to go up against teams in the future that could be a big growing-the-game moment of people that never played the game watching and just tuning in. Maybe they don’t ever play the game, but they tune in, just like football.

“I think there’s an opportunity for the world to see the game for what it could be, which is rivalries and teams against teams.

“We have players against players, and we’ve done showcases, we’ve tried it, it’s great, but imagine creating a culture like the NFL, like the NBA, and I guess we’re an individual sport; I understand that.

“But we do play team events. We’ve got the Ryder Cup. We’ve got the Presidents Cup. There should be something else. Why not?”

DeChambeau’s preference would be for a traditional golf match, played outdoors – which teammate Anirban Lahiri called “real golf”, with DeChambeau adding that were it to be contested between the TGL champions and LIV’s Team Championship winners, that it would show “who’s the best team in the world.”

He added: “There’s always been rivalries, like Brooks and I and even Rory and I. There’s a bit of that there.

“But what I’m saying is we’re all competitive. I think one way to do that, since there’s already internal built-up rivalries in the game right now, whether it’s the PGA [Tour] or LIV or TGL and LIV, let’s give the fans what they want. It’s time. It’s been too long.”