Bryson DeChambeau's 'word salad' statement and why the PGA Tour hasn't missed Jon Rahm | The Cut Line

Welcome back to the Cut Line.

Every week, GolfMagic's Andy Roberts and Ben Smith discuss all the latest news in the wonderful world of golf.

It's been another quiet hectic seven days in the sport.

Shall we get into it?

LIV Golf is shutting down. Your reaction to the news? Surprised?

AR: I'm not hugely surprised LIV has shut down. It had a good run, but ultimately never drew enough fans outside of Australia and South Africa. The players were only there for the money, and I think that's fairly evident now we're hearing from so many of them about how badly it was run.

BS: First of all, I'd like to apologise to you, as I always seem to be on annual leave when big news breaks in the golf world.

I had my feet up when it emerged the Saudis were pulling their funding, and I was also on my holibobs when Tiger had another car crash.

To answer the question, yes, I was a bit surprised.

As I told you a couple of weeks ago, I still had confidence that LIV would return in some form in 2027.

I think when you reach the point where you cannot convince the likes of Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell to stick around, you have a serious problem.

LIV always seemed like the perfect place for touring pros who aren't quite good enough to mix it with the young guns but aren't quite old enough to play on the over-50s tour.

The reality, though, was that LIV's chances of survival were always looking slim at best.

Trying to navigate bankruptcy, secure the necessary funding and find a way forward, all while racing against time, was an enormously complicated task.

Ultimately, the biggest surprise to me wasn't that LIV has reached this point, but that it has happened so quickly.

Bryson DeChambeau released a statement saying he did everything he could to save the league. What did you make of what he had to say?

AR: It felt very much like a tick-box exercise. I don't believe for one moment that Bryson is going to look back on his career and put LIV Golf Adelaide ahead of his two US Open wins. 

While I do think his heart was in the whole LIV project and taking team golf around the world, it definitely all came at a price.

I think taking $125m off the Saudis in 2022 helped him say all the right things, just as it did for the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.

If team golf really meant that much to them all, then they would still have made LIV 2.0 work, even with less money coming in from BC Partners.

It was good, I guess, that Bryson owned up to some of the mistakes he's made in his statement. But it didn't really add anything in terms of where we're going to see him next.

BS: He said a whole lot of nothing, didn't he? Honestly, what was the point of that statement?

To me, it was just vague and meaningless. Complete word salad.

I suppose the most interesting part was his acknowledgement that, over the last few years, he'd said some things that "didn't help" and that he would approach his next move with "humility and respect".

I'd be curious to hear more from him on this.

DeChambeau has the option to play on the DP World Tour in 2027 owing to his status as a recent major champion. Would you encourage him to do this?

AR: I guess if he really wants to take golf around the world, as he says in his statement, then he can do exactly that with the DP World Tour in 2027. It's not the European Tour any more; it's a world tour.

I personally can't see him playing a full schedule on the circuit, but I do think he'll play in a handful of DP World Tour tournaments, as he's set to do in South Africa in December.

I can't help but feel he's doing his good friend Gary Player a favour there, though, especially after he appeared on a recent episode of Break 50.

Bryson needs to play in some Tour events around the majors. He will never win another major if he continues to play YouTube Golf every week.

BS: I think he'd be foolish not to. It's a chance to play some competitive golf against quality opposition.

Even if he only plays half a dozen times, it represents an opportunity to stay sharp for the majors, and he'll have plenty of time to try and Break 50 with Kevin Hart.

Rory McIlroy received a two-stroke penalty in Abu Dhabi for improving his lie during the first round. He later claimed he hadn't done anything wrong but acknowledged the video footage didn't look great. How do you think he handled this?

AR: I thought he handled it well. His response was even better the following day, as he vaulted up the leaderboard.

There was definitely no intent to gain an advantage. Rory is just not that guy.

BS: Not to keep s---ing all over Bryson, but it was nice to see someone simply accept a ruling without threatening to withdraw and get Donald Trump involved.

For what it's worth, I don't think there was any nefarious intent, and Rory handled it just fine.

Jon Rahm claimed a win on his first start since his LIV Golf exit. It seems he'll have to settle for playing on the DP World Tour for at least a year before heading back to the United States to play on the Championship Series. What would you do if you were PGA Tour boss Brian Rolapp?

AR: Rahm had his chance to return to the PGA Tour earlier this season, and it was made very clear to him that this would be a one-time offer.

I think it would show extreme weakness and desperation from Rolapp, especially so early in his tenure, if he rolled out another red carpet for the Spaniard in January.

While I would love to see Rahm playing regularly against Scheffler and McIlroy on the PGA Tour again, don't get me wrong, I don't believe the circuit needs him back immediately.

Yes, he's a great golfer, but the PGA Tour hasn't missed him.

I say let him sweat it out until August, when his suspension ends, just like all the others who will have to wait.

Let's not forget he was the biggest name to turn his back on the PGA Tour, after all.

BS: Interesting take and I completely disagree. 

If I were Brian Rolapp, I'd pick up the phone to Jon Rahm in January and offer him an immediate route back.

I know some will argue that he had his opportunity to return in January and that it's only now, with the money drying up, that he's suddenly keen to come crawling back.

But, honestly, shouldn't we just move on?

The PGA Tour has spent long enough fighting LIV. 

With the league now seemingly finished, surely the priority should be getting the best players back together rather than punishing those who left.

Things are looking up for Tiger Woods. His legal woes are behind him, he's completed treatment and his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump, has received the amazing news that she's cancer-free. The 15-time major champion told an American radio station this week that he's been training quite a bit and is targeting a return to the Hero World Challenge next month. How much will we see of Tiger in 2027?

AR: It's great to see him back. He's been through a heck of a lot, and it's incredible that he's still with us today, in all honesty.

But he's been to rehab and finally looks to be back on the straight and narrow, so hopefully we'll see him a fair bit in 2027.

I can see him rocking up at a few of his favourite Tour events and then competing in the majors if he's up to it. We'll also see him on the PGA Tour Champions, by the sounds of things.

He'll be able to ride in a golf cart there, so we could see him win a fair bit if he puts it all together.

I personally think it would be great if he finished his major career at the 155th Open at St Andrews in July. What a way to bow out on his favourite course in the world.

But if he thinks he can continue and win again, then great. Does he really need to push himself any more? He's 51 next month.

I know he wants that 83rd PGA Tour title badly to set the outright record, but come on, that isn't going to happen. Not even at the Myrtle Beach Classic.

BS: I can't pretend to be his biggest supporter, but there's no question that golf is a better place with Tiger Woods in it. Whatever my reservations about the man, I remain desperate to see him back out on the course.

As for his playing prospects, I'm not particularly optimistic that we'll see much of him beyond TGL appearances and starts at The Masters and The Open at St Andrews.

The sad reality is that he has made just 11 competitive appearances since his horrific 2021 car crash.

At this stage, simply seeing him tee it up is becoming something to cherish, rather than something we can realistically expect on a regular basis.