With LIV Golf in bankruptcy court, the DP World Tour is preparing to welcome back its former rebels, with Bryson DeChambeau the biggest name in the mix.
The breakaway era in men's golf has hit a wall. LIV Golf has begun bankruptcy proceedings in a New Jersey court, and the DP World Tour is already preparing to welcome back the players who left it behind.
The trigger was the exit of BC Partners, the primary financiers behind the relaunched league. Without that backing, the planned LIV 2.0 has collapsed before it could get going, leaving a long list of players with no home for next season.
No one is more exposed than Bryson DeChambeau. The two-time US Open champion was reportedly set to commit to the new version of the circuit. Only recently he praised its business plan and predicted it would be around for good. Now the face of the revival is without a league.
The DP World Tour expects an influx of former LIV players next year and is ready to extend an olive branch to all of them, DeChambeau included. For a tour with a global footprint that includes stops in Africa, a wave of big names returning could lift its profile, its fields and its tournaments around the world.
The key questions now are who comes back, on what terms, and how quickly the sport can rebuild after one of the biggest upheavals in its history.
