DeChambeau and Westwood pay the price for their pre-collapse LIV comments.

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

BC Partners, which was set to provide the financial backing for LIV 2.0, has withdrawn its pledge to invest in the tour.

The reason was a lack of player commitments.

LIV needed 30 to 40 players to sign up for the tour.

They reportedly got close, but not close enough.

Unless a last-minute savior steps in to fund LIV in 2027, the tour will likely liquidate.

That would end LIV 2.0 before it even began.

DeChambeau and Westwood now look like the biggest losers from LIV's collapse.

While nobody from LIV Golf is in the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour's good graces, some players have limited the damage.

They did it by jumping ship the moment they could.

Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann and others pledged allegiance to the tours this offseason by leaving LIV.

But the same cannot be said for DeChambeau or Westwood.

If they now return to the PGA or DP World Tour next season, it is because they have been forced to do so.

DeChambeau recently declared his intention to stay on LIV for 2027.

He turned down the opportunity to walk away with Rahm and others as the tour declared bankruptcy.

Instead, he was one of the leading figures attempting to keep the rebel golf league alive.

"The business model makes a lot of sense," he said on the Figuring Out podcast.

"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."

That statement now looks like a major miscalculation.

Westwood, once a DP World Tour legend, has also put himself in a difficult position.

He shockingly hasn't yet committed to the DP World Tour like his LIV teammate Ian Poulter.

"I am currently unemployed," he told the Chipping Forecast podcast this week.

"I haven't signed up to anything anywhere. I haven't made a decision on anything yet."

Now Westwood's hand is forced.

Because he didn't return to the DP World Tour by choice, he does not have the benefit of any goodwill from the tour.

The same goes for DeChambeau.

If he ever attempts to return to the PGA Tour, the tour will know full well that he never would have if LIV Golf were still around.

This could make it much harder for DeChambeau to ever rejoin golf's premier tour.

The PGA Tour has a history of being unforgiving toward players who left for rival leagues.

Players who defected to LIV Golf in 2022 were suspended indefinitely by the PGA Tour.

Many have since applied for reinstatement, but the process is not automatic.

It requires approval from the tour's commissioner and policy board.

That board includes players who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour through the LIV battle.

DeChambeau's public comments about wanting to stay on LIV will not help his case.

Westwood's situation is even more complicated.

He is a former world No. 1 and a European golf legend with 25 DP World Tour wins.

But he has not played on the DP World Tour since joining LIV.

His decision to remain uncommitted, even as LIV's collapse became apparent, has cost him.

Ian Poulter, another LIV defector, has already rejoined the DP World Tour.

Westwood has not.

That choice speaks volumes to tour officials.

The DP World Tour also suspended players who joined LIV without releases.

Those players were fined and banned from certain events.

Some have since paid fines and returned.

Westwood has not taken that step.

Now the option to return on his own terms is gone.

The collapse of LIV's 2027 plans leaves both players with few good options.

They could attempt to join the Asian Tour or other smaller circuits.

They could try to qualify for major championships through open qualifying.

But none of those paths offer the same level of competition or income as the PGA or DP World tours.

DeChambeau is still a two-time U.S. Open champion.

He won his second U.S. Open in 2024 at Pinehurst.

That victory gave him a five-year exemption into the U.S. Open, through 2029.

He also has a five-year exemption into the PGA Championship for winning a major.

But those exemptions do not guarantee him a spot in regular PGA Tour events.

He would need a sponsor exemption or a reinstatement to play on tour full-time.

Sponsor exemptions are rare and limited.

They are typically given to popular players or rising stars.