Bryson DeChambeau on Sunday “offered no regrets for taking Saudi riches to join LIV Golf and no indication about his immediate future,” saying only that “he will approach it with ‘humility and respect for the game,’” according to Doug Ferguson of the AP. DeChambeau posted his thoughts on social media Sunday, his first public comments since LIV on Thursday abandoned plans to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a new version of the league. He “had the most gravitas of any player supporting LIV 2.0.” He wrote, “I’m not going to rewrite the last four years. I made a decision I believed in, and I’m grateful for what came with it.” He continued, “I want to acknowledge that along the way, I’ve said some things that didn’t help. Whatever comes next, I’ll approach it with humility and respect for the people who carried this game long before me.” DeChambeau is scheduled to play the DP World Tour’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa on Dec. 3-6 in Johannesburg. It will be only his third tournament outside of LIV and the majors since he left the PGA Tour in June 2022 (AP, 11/8). THE ATHLETIC’s Jenna West noted a DP World Tour spokesperson confirmed that DeChambeau “has until the Nov. 15 deadline to apply for DP World Tour membership via his major champion exemption.” Joining that tour “could be the first step toward DeChambeau working his way back to the PGA Tour” (THE ATHLETIC, 11/8).
STUCK IN THE UNKNOWN: GOLF’s Josh Schrock wrote DeChambeau “was all in on LIV Golf and believed that LIV 2.0 would be ‘done right’ if it got off the ground.” But he “couldn’t carry the remains of LIV on his back alone.” His “playing future is unclear.” He could take up DP World Tour membership. He could also wait to see whether BC Partners, the private equity group that tried to support LIV Golf 2.0, can create a team-golf successor to LIV, as the Financial Times reported “is their goal, albeit one whose likelihood of success is unclear.” He will “obviously still work to build his YouTube channel, but where he plays his competitive rounds outside the majors remains unclear.” That leaves DeChambeau “in a grey area as he plots his playing future” (GOLF, 11/8).
VICTORY: GOLF DIGEST’s Jay Coffin noted Jon Rahm on Sunday topped his former LIV Golf teammate Tyrrell Hatton by two shots to win the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship — his first event back as a member of the tour. Rahm said, “After everything that’s gone on and some poor play, battles mentally with the noise, to come back out after a little bit of rest and having a new addition to the family, it’s special.” It had been seven weeks since Rahm competed. The victory was Rahm’s 11th on the DP World Tour, the last coming at the 2023 Masters (GOLF DIGEST, 11/8). In London, James Corrigan noted Rahm “admitted being part of the breakaway circuit’s demise had affected him.” With Rahm and Hatton both expecting one-year bans until they can rejoin the PGA Tour, this “gripping Sunday could be a taste of things to come for the European circuit.” DeChambeau might also sign up for the tour as he waits for his own U.S. suspension to expire, and with other former LIV golfers such as Joaquín Niemann and Bubba Watson also likely to appear, the DP World Tour “could enjoy a bumper 2027” (London TELEGRAPH, 11/8).