Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley believes Bryson DeChambeau needs to return to golf’s traditional tours to boost his hopes of winning majors again.
DeChambeau’s competitive future remains uncertain, following the demise of LIV Golf, with no pathway currently in place for an immediate return to the PGA Tour and no confirmation of how frequently he plans to tee it up in 2027.
The two-time major champion said in a statement on Sunday that he ‘still believes in team golf’, with the two-time US Open champion pledging to approach the next part of his career “with humility and respect.”
He previous said he would focus on YouTube golf and “play tournaments that want him” if LIV Golf didn’t survive, then recently revealed on the “Figuring Out” podcast that he hoped it ‘exists forever’ before the league entered the liquidation phase of bankruptcy.
On the possibility of YouTube golf becoming DeChambeau’s focus going forward, McGinley told the Sky Sports Golf podcast: “You never know with Bryson, but I can see it. It would be a dumb move, to go from playing YouTube golf to trying to compete in majors.
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“The longer Bryson stays away and off traditional platforms, the less chance he has of winning major championships going forward, because you cut your teeth in week-to-week PGA Tour and DP World Tour events before you elevate into these major championships.
“If you’re cutting your teeth playing fun golf and LIV golf, it’s a massive step up to then try and compete at the very top against the best players in the world – it’s just not going to happen.
“You’re training and preparing to win major championships at such a low level that you cannot step up in that way. If he does it [sticks with YouTube and team golf], I think it would pretty much close the door on him winning major championships during that period of time.
“If he comes back and plays the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour in the years to come, I think he could become a factor again winning majors, but not from LIV 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and not even from YouTube golf.”
DeChambeau was one of only two players to win a major while an active LIV Golf player, snatching the 2024 US Open before posting three top-10s in majors the following year, then missed the cut in the first three majors of 2026 as uncertainty grew over LIV Golf’s future.
“With these guys who went to LIV, in the first couple of years they went, they were pretty competitive when it came to playing majors,” McGinley explained. “The longer they stayed on LIV, the more disconnected they got from the top of the leaderboards in these majors.
“When Jon Rahm went to LIV, he was best player that Europe had in Italy in the Ryder Cup, the current Masters champion and one of the world’s best. He went from that position to becoming a non-event when it comes to major championships.
Jon Rahm (right) topped LIV Golf’s individual standings in each of his previous three seasons
“If you took money out of the equation and it was the same on LIV as it was on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. If you said to each player ‘which platform is going to give you the best opportunity to win major championships?’, none of them would pick LIV.
“The reason they picked LIV and went on LIV was purely for financial reasons – it was not the ideal platform to prepare to win major championships.”
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Speaking on the Sky Sports Golf podcast earlier this year, Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley says that Bryson DeChambeau must change if he wants to return to the PGA Tour
‘Balancing act for players to return’
DeChambeau is eligible to apply for DP World Tour membership for the 2027 season based on being a recent major champion, although has a November 15 deadline to confirm his position.
Sergio Garcia is among those to have their intention to return to the European circuit next year, having previously criticised the tour, with many DP World Tour players unhappy with the decision to welcome LIV Golf players back.
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Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir discusses how LIV golf has ended up shutting down and what happens now for their past golfers
“Are all of these people coming back going to put 50 per cent back into the value of the tour in terms of the business model? Are sponsors suddenly going to be crawling over themselves to get involved with the DP World Tour? I don’t think so,” McGinley admitted.
“I’m not saying it’s not great to have all the players back, but what is the end game here? The end game here is that the DP World Tour becomes more sustainable than already has been.
“Guy Kinnings [DP World Tour chief executive] will be in a very strong position in terms of where he gives these invites to, especially the guys who are not exempt and are trying to come back on the DP World Tour.
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Speaking to the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, Rory McIlroy says LIV Golf was ‘half a good idea, executed poorly’, and admits he felt the breakaway series ‘wasn’t good’ for the game
“He’s got this balancing act of, yes, these guys from LIV do add somewhat of a value, but more importantly, he’s got to firstly look after the guys who have played the DP World Tour for the last three, four, five years and who have remained loyal to that tour.
“There’s also the young kids who have come through the HotelPlanner Tour, as well as DP World Tour’s Q-school in the last couple of years, who have just got their status on the tour – they’ve got to be given real ample opportunity as well.
“Just because the big guys have come back to play, it can’t be at their costs, so he’s got this balancing act that he’s going on. He understands as a member’s organisation, he’s got to be fair to the guys who stayed loyal, as well as the LIV guys coming back.”
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Whilst speaking on the Golf Central programme Rex Hoggard joins Todd Lewis as he looks at what could be next for LIV Golf’s former stars on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour
Still hope for LIV Golf to continue?
The Financial Times reported that BC Partners were reviving efforts to create a LIV Golf successor, suggesting they plan to acquire the PIF’s bankruptcy loan to revive the league’s assets.
“I think it [LIV Golf] is certainly in the dying embers – I wouldn’t say it’s 101 per cent gone,” McGinley insisted. “There’s a few rumours going round that LIV 3.0 might emerge, so let’s just wait and see what happens.
“I think, to be honest, from a financial point of view, it was a nonsense anyway when it comes to a business model. I know that business quite well, obviously, from being on the DP World Tour board and I know the financials of world golf.
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Jon Rahm reveals the changes to LIV 2.0 that made him quit the tour, whilst also admitting that he’d take the same deal as Brooks Koepka to re-join the PGA Tour if the offer was still on the table
“I know the American business model is a very different ecosystem from the rest of the world. What they were trying to do, and the money they were putting on the table, it’s very, hard – if not impossible – to get that kind of investment back.”
McGinley added: “With all that’s happened and people saying stuff and then doing something opposite that we’ve seen the last four years, I don’t trust anybody and I don’t trust anything that’s come out.
“We’ve already been bitten by them saying one thing and doing another in the past. That’s why I’m refusing to say that LIV 3.0 is not going to happen until November 15, when that line in the sand comes down from the DP World Tour.”
Listen to the full Paul McGinley interview on the latest edition of the Sky Sports Golf podcast, hosted by Jamie Weir. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Spreaker, while vodcast editions can be found on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
