LIV Golf has reportedly landed another big fish as the 2020 U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau has signed on to play the league’s first US event.
Alongside him, Patrick Reed the 2018 Masters Champion is also set to join the Saudi-backed rival golf tour according to Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated.
LIV Golf signing DeChambeau is a major win for the fledgling league and its after-effects may be felt for years to come.
DeChambeau is just 28 years old and his compatriot Reed is 31.
The perception around the breakaway league is that it is for the golfers in the latter stages of their careers trying to make as much money as possible, with LIV’s main headliners this week Dustin Johnson (37), Sergio Garcia (42), and Phil Mickelson (51) not from the current generation.
DeChambeau, if he takes the field for LIV Golf, will absolutely shatter that perception and at 28 will become the youngest and most prominent name associated with the new league.
His jumping ship is also surprising as he vowed his loyalty to PGA in February but now seems to have been lured away with the promises of riches in the region of $135 million.
“While there has been a lot of speculation surrounding my support for another tour, I want to make it very clear that as long as the best players in the world are playing the PGA TOUR, so will I,” he said.
DeChambeau and Reed have signed on for multiple years and will take part in the series’ first United States-based event beginning June 30 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near Portland, Oregon, according to Harig.
Future announcements will be made during LIV Golf’s inaugural event this week at Centurion Club outside of London, England.
DeChambeau has had an injury-riddled 2022 campaign, undergoing wrist surgery in April.
He’s played in just six tournaments this calendar year and missed the cut in four of them, including his last three events.
PGA Tour has promised strict action against those who bolt for the rival league but so far has been helpless in preventing payers from jumping ship.
If players like DeChambeau, who are in their prime, join the trend the PGA may have a big problem on its hand.
