Bryson DeChambeau's 200 mph tip backfires as LIV Golf collapses

Bryson DeChambeau and Lee Westwood have done themselves serious damage after what they said before LIV Golf’s collapse.

Both players publicly committed to a league that no longer exists.

That commitment has now become a liability.

LIV Golf’s plan for a 2027 season is dead.

BC Partners, the private equity firm that was supposed to fund LIV 2.0, withdrew its pledge.

The reason was simple: not enough players signed up.

LIV needed 30 to 40 players to commit to the new tour.

They reportedly got close, but not close enough.

Unless a last-minute savior appears, the league will liquidate.

LIV 2.0 is finished before it ever began.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU’S PUBLIC BET

DeChambeau was one of the leading figures trying to keep the rebel league alive.

He went on the Figuring Out podcast with Raj Shamani and made his stance clear.

“The business model makes a lot of sense,” DeChambeau said.

“We’re actually working through that right now for this new model.”

“It will make full financial sense.”

“No funny business, no nothing.”

“It’s going to be done right and this is going to be a league that exists hopefully forever.”

Those words now look like a miscalculation.

DeChambeau also turned down the opportunity to leave LIV earlier this year.

Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann, Sergio Garcia, and Louis Oosthuizen all moved away from the project.

They re-committed to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

They left while the door was still open.

DeChambeau stayed.

LEE WESTWOOD’S UNEMPLOYMENT

Westwood, once a DP World Tour legend, made his own mistake.

He appeared on the Chipping Forecast podcast this week.

“I am currently unemployed,” Westwood said.

“I haven’t signed up to anything anywhere.”

“I haven’t made a decision on anything yet.”

That indecision has now become a problem.

Westwood did not return to the DP World Tour by choice.

He waited, expecting LIV 2.0 to materialize.

It didn’t.

Now his hand is forced.

Because he did not return voluntarily, he has no goodwill from the tour.

Ian Poulter, his LIV teammate, already committed to the DP World Tour.

Westwood did not.

THE PGA TOUR PROBLEM

For DeChambeau, the PGA Tour situation is even more complicated.

If he attempts to return, the tour will know he never would have if LIV were still around.

That fact could make his return much harder.

Golf analyst Rex Hoggard addressed this on the Golf Channel Podcast.

Hoggard questioned DeChambeau’s confidence in LIV’s future.

“It seems to me he continues to be on the fence, leaning towards 2.0,” Hoggard said.

“And it seems to me that he’s made it clear that the team model, the franchises, the equity that players have been offered in whatever 2.0 is going to look like, that’s appealing to him.”

Hoggard also questioned what the league would look like without star power.

“The other half of it is though what in the world could that league possibly look like with Bryson DeChambeau and fill in the blank for, I think we’ve come to the conclusion that you probably need 35, 40 other players to make the league, look like?”

“I don’t know about you, I haven’t seen one name out of those other 35, 40 players that would be compelling.”

“But maybe that’s not important to him either, maybe he feels like he can build that product on his own.”

Hoggard went further.

“That’s a level of narcissism that shocks me a little bit,” he said.

“I can see Bryson DeChambeau looking round and thinking to himself, yes, I can make this work even with this group of players.”

“That is shocking to me, but it’s clear that he’s leaning in that direction.”

THE TIMING OF THE COLLAPSE

LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2026.

That filing opened the door for a restructured tour — LIV 2.0.

BC Partners was set to provide the financial backing.

The deal required 30 to 40 players to commit.

They couldn’t get enough.

The withdrawal happened recently, though no exact date has been confirmed.

Now the tour faces liquidation.

DeChambeau joined LIV in 2022.

He left the PGA Tour to accept an offer from the Saudi-backed league.

He won two US Open titles — in 2020 and 2024.

His power game made him one of the longest hitters in golf.

Earlier this year, he shared a tip about how amateur golfers could reach 200 mph ball speed.

He said it was about putting force into the club, not swinging quickly.

That tip is now a footnote to a much bigger story.

WHAT COMES NEXT

Westwood has no current tour membership.

He is truly unemployed in professional golf.

DeChambeau has not officially announced his plans for 2027.