LIV Golf recently saw star names Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed leave the league to re-join the PGA Tour. The moves came after the Saudi-backed circuit announced its decision to switch to the regular 72-holes format from the existing 54 to facilitate World Ranking points. Bryson DeChambeau on Monday questioned the move.
The two-time U.S. Open champion admitted that he isn’t sold on the league’s impending format shift and opined that the players didn’t originally ‘sign up to play for 72.’ Following this, LIV golfers like Paul Casey and Louis Oosthuizen came out to back their co-star. While Casey dubbed the original format the ‘Unique Selling Point’ of LIV, Oosthuizen admitted being a ‘big fan’ of the shorter game format.
The Southern Guards GC (formerly Stinger GC) captain confirmed that the traditional four-day format will be ‘difficult’ for LIV stars who constantly travel across continents between the breakaway tour events.
Reacting to Bryson DeChambeau’s comments on LIV’s format change, his teammate Paul Casey said, as quoted by NUCLR Golf:
“What’s the USP if we move away from it (54 holes)? I’m right there with everyone. It wouldn’t have been the thing I would have changed. I would have maybe gone tee times rather than shotgun start or something else would have changed.”
Louis Oosthuizen added:
“I’m a big fan of the 54 holes. To me it was a bit more unique, and I felt a lot more fresh in the tournaments and ready to play. We do a lot of traveling, which will make it a little bit more difficult (to play 72).”
Bryson DeChambeau displeased by LIV Golf
DeChambeau openly recorded his displeasure with LIV Golf’s decision to move to a 72-hole format. The golfer opined that the players, including him, is having different thoughts about the move. The 32-year-old golfer’s admission come just days ahead of the season-opener in Riyadh.
DeChambeau told Today’s Golfer ahead of LIV Golf Riyadh:
“It’s definitely changed away from what we had initially been told it was going to be. So, there is some movement that we’ve all been, I would say, interested in, and going, ‘Why that movement?’ Because we were told it was going to be (54 holes). So that’s definitely made us have some different thoughts about it.”
It is pertinent to note that DeChambeau’s current LIV Golf contract runs out this year. The 2023 U.S. Open champion’s strong stance on the format change has increased doubts about his future on the breakaway series. When asked about the same, the golfer stated that he has a “contract for this year” and will “see what happens after that.”
It is also noteworthy that DeChambeau is one of three golfers who could apply to re-join the PGA Tour under the circuit’s newly introduced Returning Member Program, which paved way for Brooks Koepka’s return. Interestingly, Jon Rahm is another golfer eligible for reinstatement to the American circuit under the program. The Spaniard accepted the series’ format change.
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