Bryson DeChambeau ally slams LIV Golf players' PGA return talk as "biggest joke"

Bryson DeChambeau's teammate, Anirban Lahiri, has claimed there are at least a dozen LIV Golf players that would rather retire than re-join the PGA Tour.

Ben Smith

08 May 2026

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Anirban Lahiri says it's "the biggest joke ever" that several LIV Golf players desperate to re-join the PGA Tour.

The future of the breakaway league has been plunged into doubt after Saudi Arabia announced it would no longer fund the venture after the conclusion of the 2026 season.

LIV Golf have created a new independent board specifically to find funding and restructure the business.

And CEO, Scott O'Neil, has outlined plans to sell equity in the teams as they are the "crown jewel" of LIV Golf.

Still, that hasn't stopped the speculation that LIV's biggest names - such as Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm - are exploring their options should LIV not survive.

DeChambeau told reporters before their event in Virginia that he would prefer to concentrate on creating content on YouTube instead of re-joining the PGA Tour.

The two-time U.S. Open champion also appeared to indicate the penalties he would be subjected to would be too severe.

Rahm, meanwhile, explained that he "doesn't see a way" out of his LIV contract, which expires in 2028.

Bryson DeChambeau on what he would do if LIV doesn't survive

DeChambeau's teammate Lahiri, though, told The Times of London that it is "the biggest joke ever" that LIV's players are chomping at the bit to re-join the North American circuit.

"I will not name names but I know at least a dozen players who'd rather not play golf than go back to the PGA Tour," he said.

Lahiri was among the first wave of players to be recruited to LIV in 2022. Since them, he has earned more than $30m on the course.

Asked what is wrong the with the PGA Tour, Lahiri said: “I'm not going to answer because I don’t want this to be a hate thing

"I played on the PGA Tour for seven years and really enjoyed my time there. I learnt a lot about the business of golf and some of the things I learnt disillusioned me. I’ll leave it at that.

"That was enough for me not to want to go back, but that's me personally. I'm sure others have different opinions of it and I respect that as well, but to generalise that everybody is falling over backwards to come back to the PGA Tour is the same kind of propaganda we’ve had for four years."

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The aforementioned O'Neil refused to offer specific details of LIV's business plan that they will pitch to investors.

He claimed that he has already received calls from wealthy individuals looking to invest in sports and sports teams.

Lahiri also believes LIV won't struggle to find investment.

"I think it's more about creating the right business plan," he said.

"You have something that is sustainable and scalable and investment will come automatically.

"There's a dearth of investment opportunities in sports per se and our biggest strength is that we're global.

"I don't see another league in golf that can operate globally at the scale at which we have, so that makes us a niche property to begin with."

The 38-year-old also believes there might be a path to collaboration with the European-based DP World Tour.

"If there is a collaboration with the DP World Tour and us that'd be great," he said.

"If they want to go their own way and feel that's the best option, they're going to do that.

"It's a very volatile and flexible situation. There's a lot of bad blood between all the organisations so it's going to take a lot of cool, calm minds and sensible heads."