Brandel Chamblee Slams LIV Golf Stars Over Shutdown Reality Check

Brandel Chamblee says LIV Golf stars got a 'slap in the face of reality' as the breakaway league prepares to shut down for good.

The Golf Channel analyst did not hold back in his assessment of the players who jumped to the Saudi-backed tour.

LIV Golf is set to officially close its doors after private capital firm BC Partners pulled its bid to relaunch the league in 2027.

The London-based investment firm cited a lack of player support necessary to hold competition in the new year.

The news comes after a months-long fight by LIV Golf to stay above water.

The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), which launched the league back in 2022, withdrew its financial support at the end of the 2026 season.

PIF attracted some of golf's biggest stars with multi-million dollar contracts.

Losing PIF's financial backing came as a major blow to LIV Golf's leadership, including CEO Scott O'Neil.

O'Neil subsequently worked for several months to secure investment partners and keep the project from going bankrupt.

BC Partners agreed to relaunch the league with a 17-tournament schedule that maintained the team format.

That team format distinguishes LIV Golf from traditional golf organizations like the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

But after failing to get player commitment, BC Partners withdrew their bid.

Chamblee, a longtime critic of LIV Golf and those who agreed to join it, made his feelings clear after the tour officially reached the end of the road this week.

"You can point the finger in a lot of places," Chamblee said.

"In order for it to move forward, you needed some cooperation from whatever players were going to make up LIV 2.0."

"The players and their representatives, from what I have read, were making financial demands that could not be met."

Chamblee then turned his attention to the eye-popping sums the Saudis had paid the defectors.

"What the Saudis were paying these players, I would call hazard pay," he said.

"They knew that they were going to take on reputational damage, they knew it would be disruptive and they knew it would be disruptive for their careers."

The players were reportedly offered a 52.5 percent ownership stake in the product going forward.

"The fact they were unwilling to take on that ownership tells you that they didn't have any belief that it would work," Chamblee said.

He delivered his signature line with surgical precision.

"They all thought they were beachfront property in Malibu but the market was telling them your timeshare is in Toledo."

"Finally they got a slap in the face of reality."

The amount of money being doled out to LIV Golf players via contracts and tournament prize money was the main draw.

Each LIV tournament awarded $25 million or more to the individuals and teams who won.

That money drew players like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm to leave the PGA Tour for a brand-new, unproven breakaway league.

Many like Chamblee were critical of golfers like DeChambeau and Rahm for their choices.

They claimed the players were fueled by greed rather than continuing to play at the highest level of competition in the PGA Tour.

Now, with LIV Golf set to fold, Chamblee is having the last laugh.

Chamblee suggested that the players who were open to staying with LIV Golf eventually realized that they could not save the league.

It appears that LIV Golf will soon be no more.

After weeks of speculation concerning BC Partners and their push to invest in the league, it was reported on Wednesday that the company was ready to pull the plug.

While there were some reports on Thursday that suggested there may still be hope for LIV, it has now been confirmed that the league is shutting down.

It is quite hard to believe that there will no longer be a LIV Golf league on the golfing landscape in 2027.

While many have written off the tour on several occasions in the past, it always felt as though LIV would somehow find a way to live another day.

However, LIV is indeed set to now disappear.

Speaking on Golf Channel, Chamblee offered his initial verdict on the announcement.

"You can point the finger at a lot of places here, but in order for it to have gone forward, you needed some cooperation from whatever players were going to make up this LIV 2.0," he said.

"The players and player representatives, from what I've read, were making financial demands that could not be met."

"When you think about what the Saudis were paying these players, in essence I'd call it hazard pay, because they knew that they were going to take on reputational damage."