Bryson DeChambeau bought into LIV Golf early through conversations around the debut season and plans for where the circuit could be after five years and 10 years down the line.
As the breakaway golf tour marks 100 rounds of existence at the LIV Golf Greenbrier event on Friday, DeChambeau said he’s still all-in on LIV Golf, which launched in 2022.
“I expected there to be a lot of progress, but the progress has been amazingly awesome, from everything that we’ve done, everything that each team has individually done, the players, what they’ve done to make this league what it is now today is quite impressive,” he said Wednesday. “As I look at a five-year vision, 10-year vision, I just see this thing exploding here shortly.
“When people start to see the true value that we’re bringing, that intrinsic value is only going to exponentiate over the course of time, which is what I’m excited for. I’m waiting for that kind of domino effect, for it to start falling in that cool direction that we see here on our side at LIV, especially with the team aspect.”
DeChambeau won the Greenbrier at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. in 2023, where his rounds included scores of 58 and 61. The 12-under 58 is the standing record for the lowest score in LIV’s short history.
DeChambeau said Wednesday he looks back at the weekend in West Virginia as a turning point in his career, where he got his first LIV Golf individual win.
“Yeah, I won’t go too deep into it, but I can tell you that was the day my life changed for the better for sure,” DeChambeau said.
“Previous to that I had been struggling with my golf game, not really understanding how to get the job done again. It had been a while since I had felt like I had done anything. Played well at Valderrama, did well at the PGA, but still just didn’t feel like I had it to win. Coming here last year, I had this new piece of equipment, driver in play that I felt like I was going to be able to hit a lot straighter, and ultimately that was a massive difference for me in order to be more comfortable on the golf course, hit it straighter with the distance I had.”
As DeChambeau was flanked by fellow former PGA Tour members Bubba Watson (captain of RangeGoats GC) and Patrick Reed (4Aces GC), the collective narrative on Wednesday was LIV became a needed change agent for the game that is benefiting members of the “other” tour.
“When I think about going through the motions of deciding I wanted to come to LIV, I thought about the 10-year plan, on paper, what the goals were, and it’s met my expectations. It’s been better than that,” Watson said. “We’ve changed the face of golf. So to be on that side of history is pretty special.
“I know years ago when the PGA Tour made that same decision, and when I’m saying years ago, we’re talking ’50s, ’40s, whatever year Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus and them made the other tour, so we’re a part of that. It’s an honor and a privilege to say I’m a part of that. Scottie Scheffler has made a lot of money this year because of the changes that we’ve started putting in place. I believe that golf is actually growing in the right spot, and I think team golf is here to stay.”
–Field Level Media