Bryson DeChambeau held meeting during Masters to discuss LIV exit: Report

NEW YORK – Bryson DeChambeau used his spare time at the Masters earlier in April to discuss a possible return to the PGA Tour, according to a report by The Athletic.

Playing in the final season of his original LIV Golf contract, the 32-year-old American not only was competing in the first Major tournament of the 2026 season at Augusta, Georgia, but also had meetings with unnamed “organisations” about a LIV departure, according to the report.

DeChambeau did have the opportunity to return to the PGA Tour earlier in 2026 through the returning member programme but reportedly declined. That scheme was developed as Brooks Koepka departed LIV for his return to the PGA Tour earlier in 2026.

Also declining the option to return were Spaniard Jon Rahm and Australian Cameron Smith. DeChambeau and the duo were the only other LIV stars who were offered a path to return, amid new parameters that were restricted to players who had departed for at least two years and had won a Major event or a Players Championship title from 2022 to 2025.

DeChambeau’s reported meetings at the Masters came as rumours started to circulate that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund may be preparing to end its financial support for LIV Golf.

However, LIV Golf chief executive officer Scott O’Neil said last week that the league would not fold. He later added that it is financed up till the end of the 2026 season.

The league’s fourth season has seven tournaments remaining, five in the United States, after last week’s event in Mexico. DeChambeau complained about course conditions at the Mexico event then withdrew after two rounds citing a wrist injury.

Up next is LIV Golf Virginia at Trump National Golf Club from May 7 to 10.

DeChambeau prevailed in a play-off in consecutive weeks in March by winning at both LIV Golf Singapore and LIV Golf South Africa. The two-time US Open champion has won five individual LIV Golf titles.

When LIV Golf began in 2022, DeChambeau reportedly signed a US$125 million (S$158.9 million) contract for 4½ years. According to The Daily Telegraph, he had been seeking as much as US$500 million on a new contract to remain with the league.

Meanwhile, The PGA Tour is planning to abandon the traditional season-opening swing in Hawaii from 2027, it said on April 20.

The Sentry event on Maui has been scrapped, said a PGA Tour statement, which added that talks were taking place to transform the Sony Open tournament into part of the PGA Tour Champions circuit for veteran golfers.

The Sentry had been held every year from 1999 to 2025 at The Plantation Course at Kapalua but was cancelled this season because of water restrictions on the drought-stricken island.

The Sony Open has been held at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu since 1971 and was the PGA Tour’s opening event in 2026, won by Chris Gotterup.

The move away from Hawaii had been widely rumoured and PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp in March signalled the American-based circuit’s desire to look at other venues to launch the season.

He wanted the tour to start, he said, with a “marquee event at an iconic venue in the west”.

The tour will announce its full 2027 schedule at a later date.
REUTERS, AFP