Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson & other golfers won't receive large upfront payments as LIV Golf announces change to contract renewals - Reports
LIV Golf is apparently making a major change to how it pays players like Bryson DeChambeau or Dustin Johnson moving forward. When players get new deals with the Saudi-backed league, they reportedly won't receive the large lump sums up front anymore.
This is being reported by Eamon Lynch of Golfweek, who adds that the gap between earnings on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf has shrunk, at least for those he referred to as competitively relevant. Now that golfers reportedly won't get hundreds of millions just for signing up, some might see it as reason to remain on the rebel tour.
That could potentially open the door for DeChambeau, Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and others to potentially return to the PGA Tour sooner rather than later. As Lynch wrote:
"If all that the PGA Tour wants by way of reunification is the return of the few men who matter, then it can simply wait until they’re contractually free and do what Scottie [Scheffler] suggested, go ask ‘em."
If true, this could mark a huge shift. Part of the initial draw of LIV was the incredible amount of money golfers were offered up front. Rahm signed a deal with LIV that was reportedly worth around $300 million, though facts were hard to come by about the terms.
That money reportedly wouldn't come up front at all for anyone signing new contracts. Interestingly, Rahm is the only major player that this doesn't apply to at the moment as he signed his deal with the money up front before the start of the 2024 season.
So while contracts for Bryson DeChambeau, Koepka, Johnson, Patrick Reed, and others will be expiring soon, Rahm's current deal still has a few years left to run.
Scottie Scheffler shared his thoughts on Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm departures
Reports claim that there is a decent chance, whether by reunification or the return of those who left, that PGA Tour golfers and LIV players will play one another more than just at the four Major tournaments in the coming years.
Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, and others will have the chance sooner rather than later to come back. In the meantime, Scottie Scheffler isn't worried about any hypothetical "what if" questions regarding them.
Scheffler was recently asked whether he thought his historic run last year would've been different had some LIV players, namely DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, not left. He plainly said (via Golf Digest):
"Do I think that some of the results would have changed?" Scheffler asked back. "Who knows? I only get to compete against those guys four times a year. That was their choice, not mine."
He added:
"At the end of the day I'm here competing and doing the best I can, and that kind of stuff, what's the point of me thinking about, you know? There's really absolutely no point to that. We get four chances to compete against them. Last week went well. I get another chance here in a few weeks."
Scheffler is coming off a triumph at the PGA Championship, where Bryson DeChambeau placed second and Jon Rahm briefly tied Scheffler on the back nine of the final round.