‘If the players want me back’: Bryson DeChambeau lays out 2 demands for PGA Tour return

We’ve heard a lot from Bryson DeChambeau at this week’s LIV Golf event at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. It’s the first LIV tournament since the league confirmed reports that the Saudi Arabian PIF would pull funding after this season.

As a result, reporters and fans alike were eager to hear what DeChambeau, LIV’s biggest star, thought of the monumental news. He told GOLF’s Alan Bastable that he was caught off guard when the PIF funding news first broke.

“There’s no way. That’s frickin’ impossible, considering what I’d heard a couple months earlier. I thought there was a plan through 2032. It was a flip of the switch,” DeChambeau said on Tuesday in Virginia.

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He told other outlets that should LIV Golf end, he could even envision dedicating himself to his popular YouTube channel full time.

But what about a return to the PGA Tour for the two-time major champion?

On Wednesday, DeChambeau revealed his current thinking about a potential PGA Tour comeback. In an interview with Skratch Golf, he laid out two specific requirements he would need met to make a PGA Tour return a reality.

Bryson DeChambeau on PGA Tour comeback: ‘It’s really about if the membership wants me back’

In his latest interview with Garrett Johnston of Skratch, DeChambeau detailed two specific hurdles preventing him from rejoining the PGA Tour.

The first obstacle he identified was the current PGA Tour players. DeChambeau declared that ultimately they would need to “want him back” before he’d consider a return.

“I think there’s a way to solve any problem. It’s really about if the membership wants me back and if they just want me back. That’s what it’s about,” DeChambeau admitted. “I don’t even think it’s [PGA Tour CEO] Brian Rolapp or anybody like one of the top executives, it’s really if the players want me back and if not, then I understand that.”

Bryson’s comments speak to how acrimonious the PGA Tour-LIV Golf rift has been over the past five years. The rise of LIV divided the top players, and relationships have been strained. That’s especially true when it comes to vocal star players like DeChambeau, who is divisive among golf fans in the best of times.

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DeChambeau’s other issue has to do with his YouTube account and other social media platforms. Bryson has repeatedly said those pursuits will be a big part of his future. He told Skratch that the PGA Tour policy governing players’ creation of social media content at tournaments was one of the biggest pain points preventing his Tour comeback.

DeChambeau argued, “If you look at it, it’s affiliate marketing, so me being able to create content on that golf course that week at that event should only bring value to the tournament, and that’s what I care about most, entertaining like I’ve always said from day one.”

But he also incorrectly claimed that the PGA Tour restricts players from creating content at tournaments during practice rounds and pro-ams.

“So if I was to film a video during the week of one of their events with a content creator or a celebrity, that would be in violation to my knowledge. It’s their policy, they didn’t let me do it when I was on there. I asked various times,” DeChambeau claimed.

The PGA Tour clarified to Skratch that under current PGA Tour Social Media Policy Tour pros are allowed to create content at events prior to the tournament rounds.

There is one reality that makes a PGA Tour return more feasible for DeChambeau than some of his LIV compatriots.

DeChambeau’s current LIV deal expires at the end of the season. Therefore, he’s not required to play LIV events beyond 2026. Furthermore, the massive new contract he was originally seeking is likely off the table with LIV’s funding issues.

That stands in stark contrast to Jon Rahm, for example. Rahm is under contract with LIV for years to come, giving him less flexibility than DeChambeau moving forward.