Report: Bryson DeChambeau and team discussed LIV Golf exit at 2026 Masters

Bryson DeChambeau reportedly spent a portion of Masters week discussing his options with the major tours should he decide to leave LIV Golf, according to a report. 

The American's future with the breakaway tour has come under sharp focus in recent days after it was widely reported by several outlets, including the Financial Times and New York Times, that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is set to end its financial support for the league at the end of the 2026 campaign. 

LIV Golf's chief executive, Scott O'Neil, insisted in a defiant letter sent to his players and staff that their campaign continues "at full throttle" but appeared to indicate in a TNT Sports interview aired on Thursday evening that there was an air of truth to the reports. 

"The reality is you're funded through the season and then you work like crazy to create a business and a business plan to keep us going," O'Neil said. 

The interview was deleted from TNT's social media channels and re-posted a short time later with O'Neil's comments raising doubts over the league's future scrubbed out. 

DeChambeau, who quit the PGA Tour in 2022, is out of contract at the end of the season and is yet to put pen to paper on a new deal. 

Before the Ryder Cup in September, DeChambeau intimated that negotiations weren't going as planned by claiming that "things have got to improve". 

DeChambeau did not make it clear what was referencing. 

It's been alleged the 2024 U.S. Open champion wants at least $500m to extend his stay. 

Whether that happens now remains to be seen. 

The Athletic's Brody Miller has reported DeChambeau spent a portion of his Masters week "meeting with organisations to discuss possible options if he chose to leave LIV". 

Those organisations, of course, are the PGA and DP World Tour. 

Miller reported:

According to golf industry sources, DeChambeau and his team spent a part of Masters week meeting with organisations to discuss possible options if he chose to leave LIV. Speculation persists that, in the wake of others leaving LIV for the PGA Tour earlier this year, his ask to resign is up to $500 million. DeChambeau has even used his YouTube success as a leverage play with all potential suitors, indicating he’s open to only filming content and playing the four major championships.

The publication reported that the overwhelming feeling from LIV Golf officials is that DeChambeau isn't going anywhere, though. 

DeChambeau was previously offered a chance to return to the PGA Tour. 

In January, the North American circuit created a "returning member programme" to accommodate Brooks Koepka after the five-time major champion was allowed to leave LIV despite having a few months left on his contract. 

Koepka explained his return was fast-tracked after he picked up the phone to Tiger Woods. 

Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm and DeChambeau were the other three LIV players that were eligible for the programme, which the PGA Tour stressed was a "one-time offer". 

Patrick Reed wasn't eligible, but the 2018 Masters champion will return to the PGA Tour later this summer after serving a one-year ban from his last LIV Golf start. 

LIV Golf boss discusses Bryson DeChambeau's future

O'Neil addressed DeChambeau's contract extension last week on TNT. 

He said he spends more time with DeChambeau than with his own family, adding: "I can tell you there is nobody more passionate about this game, including me, about growing the game than Bryson. 

"He loves LIV Golf and I'm pretty confident we'll find a solution."

DeChambeau's behaviour suggests something isn't right

It has been a strange season so far for DeChambeau. 

At the beginning of the year, the American indicated he was in the minority over LIV Golf's switch to a 72-hole format. 

In an interview with Today's Golfer, DeChambeau said the change "wasn't what we signed up for". 

After DeChambeau defeated Jon Rahm in a playoff at their event staged in South Africa before the first men's major of the year, the two-time major champ suggested something big had happened in his life. 

He got visibly emotional in a TV interview but stressed he wasn't able to discuss what happened. 

A reporter attempted to get DeChambeau to open up on what he was referencing in his news conference before the 2026 Masters, but the golfer shut down the question completely. 

Despite being one of the pre-tournament favourites, DeChambeau missed the cut in spectacular fashion the Masters, making a triple-bogey on the 36th hole after suffering a complete meltdown in a greenside bunker. 

Last week, DeChambeau was filmed getting irate with the course conditions at their stop in Mexico. 

DeChambeau withdrew ahead of the final round, citing a wrist injury.