With the dust having now all but settled following the PGA Tour doing their best Don Corleone impression by attempting to make Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm an offer they couldn’t possibly refuse – one that they then dutifully did – we find ourselves faced with the reality where Bryson and Jon have made it clear that they won’t be going anywhere.
Is it the blockbuster outcome we were all hoping for? The cinematic ending to the whirlwind of drama that began with Brooks Koepka announcing that he was leaving LIV? No. But, realistically, I don’t think that was ever really on the table – mainly, because we live in a world where contracts exist.
Whilst we can question a great deal about LIV and how they run the show over there, they are still running a business – albeit on easy mode when you have an endless supply of money. But when you shell out millions upon millions of dollars to sign the likes of DeChambeau and Rahm, you aren’t doing that for fun. It’s an investment. And, whatever about anything else, you’re going to make sure that you protect that investment. Because while you can’t guarantee that you’ll get a return on the money that you’ve spent – as we’ve seen with LIV – what you can do is, at least, get your money’s worth. And, sometimes, that can be as simple as just making sure that guys see out their contracts.
Because no deal comes with no strings attached. None. Especially when there’s this much money involved. Therefore, when we see Bryson and Jon making their decision to stick with LIV, I don’t think we can really judge it as them choosing LIV over the PGA. More than anyone, they know the ins and outs of their contracts, in particular the potential ramifications for trying to exit their deals early, be they financial or otherwise. So, when you see Bryson squashing the idea of returning to the PGA by saying, “I’m contracted through 2026, …”? That’s literally all that matters. He, like Jon, has a contract with LIV. And when they weighed everything up, I just don’t think the financial penalties – from both the PGA and maybe LIV – made any sense.
Could you make the argument that, if they’d asked, Bryson and Jon could’ve just been released from their contracts like Brooks, seemingly, was? Sure. But, one, we don’t know the exact details surrounding Koepka’s exit. And, two, I’m still of the impression that Brooks going back to the PGA isn’t the huge hit to LIV that people seem to want to think that it is – case in point being, they’ve probably saved themselves a good chunk of change AND gotten rid of a guy who never seemed to really buy into the very vision you paid him a handsome sum of money to actually enhance.
Outside of the shark-infested waters that is the realm of contracts and lawyers, though, we have to consider the possibility, too, that Bryson and Jon could simply be playing the long game here. Because, think about it, should the pair of them see out their contractual obligations with LIV – DeChambeau’s contract expires at the end of the 2026 season, Rahm’s at the end of 2027 – do we really think that the PGA Tour wouldn’t allow them to come back? At the end of the 2026 season, Bryson will only be 33, with Jon being the same age come the end of 2027. Assuming that their games are both in fine working order (which, no, isn’t a given) and that they’ve avoided the scourge of injury, a 34 and 33-year-old DeChambeau and Rahm just hitting their primes would be perfectly placed to help lead the PGA Tour for, at least, another five years.
Yet, with rumours already circulating that Bryson is going to be coming to the negotiating table with LIV seeking an eye-watering half a billion dollar deal to sign a new contract, it’s hard to know what’s going to happen anymore.
What we do know for certain, however, is that whilst ink may well have been thicker than blood when it came to deciding where Bryson and Jon will play for the foreseeable future, in the grand scheme of things? It’ll be the almighty dollar, once again, that’ll prove to wield the greatest power of all.
