Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Bryson DeChambeau said on Sunday he does not regret joining LIV Golf and offered no new details of his future plans in his first public comments since the divisive tour announced it is shutting down. DeChambeau was arguably the highest profile member of a swathe of golf stars who defected from the traditional PGA Tour to free-spending LIV in 2022, turning the golf world on its head. The two-time US Open winner had continued to staunchly defend the rebel tour even after its Saudi backers pulled the plug this year, expressing optimism for a now-aborted “LIV 2.0” relaunch plan even as others like Jon Rahm jumped ship.
With LIV announcing on Thursday that it will shutter for good, DeChambeau issued a statement expressing gratitude for his experience with the rebel tour. “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: playing in front of fans new and old around the world who rarely got to see the best players at home,” he said. “The record crowds in Adelaide and Johannesburg will stick with me for the rest of my life. I believed this game could reach more people, in more places, in a new way. I still believe that. And I gave it everything I had to keep team golf alive.”
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DeChambeau expressed confidence that LIV Golf’s distinctive team-based format would be successful in the future. “I still believe in team golf. It may look different in the future, but I still believe it’s essential to growing the game,” he said. Several former LIV stars have announced they will play on the DP World (European) Tour next season — a potential route to one day returning to the US PGA Tour.
DeChambeau, whose personal commercial ventures include a hugely popular YouTube channel, did not reveal his future competitive plans, beyond a scheduled appearance at next month’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa. But the famously outspoken and self-confident star vowed to act with “humility and respect” in the future as he ponders his next step. “Arnold Palmer said no player is bigger than the game, and I want to acknowledge that, along the way, I’ve said some things that didn’t help,” he said. “Whatever comes next, I’ll approach it with humility and respect for the people who carried this game long before me.” Beyond the Nedbank Golf Challenge event, “I’ll go about whatever is next the right way,” he added.
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