Bryson DeChambeau is the latest big name to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf.
Aaron Duster / USA Today
Brooklyn, Massachusetts – “It was a business decision.”
This is how Bryson Deschamps described his move to LIV Golf after his training round on Monday at the US Open.
Pointy, concise and honest, the 28-year-old eventually decided to go against conventional wisdom and put up with his decision, although he said after missing Friday at the Memorial Tournament that he wasn’t interested in making the leap at the time.
Things changed quickly after Columbus left.
“There was a lot of money and also a lot of time,” DeChambeau said of why he jumped to LIV Golf. “So, I’ll have a life outside of golf, too.”
DeChambeau wants to live in a 50/50 world, a world where he commits to playing golf 50% of the time and 50% of his life outside of golf, including his business and family interests.
The money that DeChambeau signed has never been revealed, but in discussions with those familiar with the sum, the term “generational wealth” has been confirmed.
And while DeChambeau wants to play a lot of golf, he said he wants golf to be entertaining.
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“We managed to overcome the first, for example, grumblings and growing pains that occur,” said Deschamps, the 29th player in the world. “I think we will devise a great way to provide more entertainment for golf lovers.”
While DeChambeau never used the phrase “game development” as part of his decision to join the new round, he did talk about the game’s “global GDP.”
It’s a phrase DeChambeau used to describe how his move to LIV Golf could pay off in the future.
Using the economist’s term Gross Domestic Product (GDP), DeChambeau talks about adding value to the game by getting more people into the game and ultimately expanding the value of the golf business through expanding equipment sales, developing new courses and ranges, and growing ancillary services to the game.
“I still want to play major slams, I want to win the majors, accumulate as many of those slams as we were here this week at the US Open,” Dechambeau said. “I am very excited to be able to play major tournaments in the future and give myself great opportunities to win prestigious golf events.”
DeChambeau commits to the field for next week’s Travelers Championship and then the second LIV event in Portland. (Just as some LIV Golf signatories put it in the memorial one week before the opening London event, it is believed that DeChambeau could play the Travelers before hitting his first shot in the LIV event.)
Having tried it out on June 30 in Portland, he may never take part in a PGA Tour event for the rest of his career.
While he appears unwilling to discuss this fact, stating that it’s a PGA Tour invitation and not his, DeChambeau wants to play events like Memorial and Bay Hill, where he’s won in the past.
“I think there are a lot of opportunities when we look forward,” DeChambeau said. “For me that’s what the future looks like and from my perspective, I think there’s a lot of good that will eventually come out of this.”