Brandel Chamblee on LIV Golfers’ “Punitive & Bumpy” Road Back to the PGA Tour

The PGA Championship reminded everyone what the best players in the world look like in the same field. Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee came on the show and made very clear who he thinks broke that.

"I wouldn't say it's the fault of golf or the fault of the PGA Tour that the best players in the world are not playing together," Chamblee said. "It's the players who chose to take the profit over the principle."

Chamblee did not soften the take. The LIV departures chose money over legacy and the results, in his read, have followed.

"They left and chose to go play tournaments that hardly anybody's watching and certainly don't mean anything historically and have no legacy," Chamblee said. "Subsequently, with the exception of Bryson, and you could even argue now Bryson is struggling, pretty much everybody who's gone to LIV, their game has fallen off demonstrably."

The majors, in his framing, are now the only relevance window LIV players still have.

"When they do come back to play major championships, it's the one place where they can play now and claw for some relevancy," Chamblee said. "So you got to believe that they are highly motivated when they come back."

Then he pushed the conversation forward to the more practical question. The future of the league itself.

"There's a lot of debate about whether or not even LIV will hang on next year," Chamblee said. "I doubt it's going to be any private equity, any investors anywhere in the world, that want to ante up with all of those expenditures in line."

He pointed to the contractual hangover. Jon Rahm is still owed roughly half a guarantee Chamblee estimated at $175 to $200 million.

"Nobody wants to pay that," Chamblee said. "Nobody wants to pay what Bryson DeChambeau seems to think that he's worth."

Chamblee said if LIV does survive, it will be on a much smaller financial footing.

"If it hangs on, they're going to be playing for pennies on the dollar," Chamblee said. "It's highly unlikely that anybody's going to go watch that."

Rahm, by Chamblee's understanding, is contracted for two or three more years. That sets up the actual ongoing conversation in the sport. How do the LIV players get back?

"They're going to have to come back and pay huge fines to come back," Chamblee said. "They're going to have to come back and play some time penalties, spend some time in the penalty box, so to speak."

The road back will not include the showcase events right away.

"Very few of them are even exempt," Chamblee said. "And the ones that are, when they come back, they're probably going to have to play lesser events before they get onto the signature events."

The summary, in his own framing, was the headline.

"It's going to be a while, and the road back's going to be punitive, and it's going to be bumpy," Chamblee said.