Bryson DeChambeau Says the Quiet Part Out Loud: 'People are Losing Interest' in the PGA and LIV

Jerry Thornton4/04/2024 4:40 PM

Chris Trotman/LIV Golf. Getty Images.

I truly believe that years from now, when the war between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf is finally over, there's peace in our golf time once again, and all the books are being written and the documentaries are being made, there'll be one word this era will be remembered for. And it's not "greed," "money," "power" or any adjacent words you'll find in the thesaurus.

It'll be "hypocrisy."

There's not a man, woman or child even remotely connected to this thing that hasn't covered themselves in a thick, deep-fried, extra crispy coating of hypocrisy ever since LIV Golf slid down the birth canal:

--All the crusading Journos writing outraged editorials about the Saudi's creating LIV for the purpose of "Sportswashing" all their government's sins. A good percentage of whom were fresh off covering Olympics in China, Russia, and China again, and a World Cup in Qatar. None of which are exactly bastions of individual liberty.

--The PGA Tour, shamelessly hiding behind the flag and even waving the bloody shirt of 9/11, while ignoring all the business dealings and sponsorships they've with the Saudis.

--The Tour and its players who were deeply, morally offended by very LIV's existence. Until a merger was announced. Then all their sanctimonious objections disappeared. Lost like a duck hook into knee-high fescue.

--The LIV players who have awkwardly struggled in vain to come up with every excuse for why they jumped to the new tour, other than just admitting that it would be insane to turn down fucktons of petrodollars for a lot less work. Pretending to be doing it for improved international relations or "growing the game" or whatever.

Of course that merger still hasn't happened. The corporate lawyers are still raking in the billable hours with a deal nowhere in sight. And now that it's become painfully obvious that all the phony self-righteousness,patriotism, high ideals, and diplomacy has done the opposite of "growing the game." To the point some of the golfers are beginning to kinda/sorta admit it:

Source - Bryson DeChambeau supported Rory McIlroy’s recent comments that the current divided landscape is not sustainable and said Wednesday that an agreement between the two warring sides needs to be reached “quicker rather than later” because fans are losing interest. …
“The fans are what drive this sport. If we don’t have fans, we don’t have golf. We’re not up here entertaining,” DeChambeau told reporters. “That’s the most important thing as of right now, the low-hanging fruit. There’s got to be a way to come together. How that comes together, that’s above all of us out here.” …
Rory McIlroy, who stepped down from the Tour board last fall, told Golf Monthly earlier this week that the current division of top players “sucks” and said that he doesn’t see an agreement happening anytime soon.
That’s the part that’s most worrisome to DeChambeau – the talks dragging on for the foreseeable future – even if he was part of the initial wave of defectors from the Tour.
“It needs to happen fast,” DeChambeau said. “It’s not a two-year thing. Like, it needs to happen quicker rather than later just for the good of the sport. Too many people are losing interest.”

Well it's rewarding to know that everyone involved is as frustrated as the rest of us are. But even with that, they continue to add layers to the already massive parfait of hypocrisy they've created here.

I mean, imagine the level of arrogance it takes to pass yourself off as a champion of the golf consumer - to play your Fanfare for the Common Fan - and act like you don't know how it came to all this. It's not like it's DeChambeau's job to give a rat's taint about golf fans. I fully respect his right to go get that cheddar. Not one petro-dime of it is coming out of my pocket. So more power to him if he wants to buy some luxury vacation homes or Phil Mickelson needs to pay off his casino debts (allegedly). They owe none of us an explanation.

But let's not let them or anyone else pretend they're not responsible for the state of things. That "Too many people are losing interest" as a direct result of their actions. You can't take dozens of the world's top competitors, put them on a course in Adelaide or Andalucia, televise the tournament on some basic cable network that preempts the final holes to show infomercials:

… only to then turn around and decry the tragedy of losing fans' loyalty.

DeChambeau, McIlroy and anyone else who says a deal needs to get done five minutes ago is, of course, 100% correct. But they don't need to waste a second of anyone's time wondering who's responsible for the state of things.