Eyeballs, and everything else
Rory McIlroy did not dress it up. Asked in Dubai on Tuesday whether Bryson DeChambeau belongs on the DP World Tour, the Northern Irishman welcomed the idea and, in the same breath, pointed out how little room the American has to manoeuvre since LIV Golf went under.
McIlroy’s view was that a player like DeChambeau arrives with a full package, the good parts and the less good ones, and that the attention he drags along is a plus for any tournament. He then added that he would never want to be in DeChambeau’s position, and that if the two-time U.S. Open champion wants to keep playing competitive golf, his options look thin.
That last point is hard to argue with. The PGA Tour is not offering LIV’s stranded players a way back for now. Commissioner Brian Rolapp has said the defunct circuit’s bankruptcy proceedings must be wrapped up before any route home can even be discussed.
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Europe as the landing zone
Several big names have already made their choice. Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm are among the former LIV players who have committed to Europe. It is a familiar stance from McIlroy, who described Rahm’s situation in similar terms during the summer, when the Spaniard ruffled feathers by questioning the conditions laid down by the DP World Tour.
DeChambeau’s own history complicates things. He passed on a return to the PGA Tour last year, when Rolapp set out a strict pathway that Brooks Koepka took. Patrick Reed went a different way, playing the DP World Tour this season. He sits third in the points list but intends to head back to the PGA Tour, and he said he hopes his former LIV colleagues can follow the same route.
The numbers behind the name
At 33, DeChambeau owns nine PGA Tour titles, including the U.S. Open in 2020 and again in 2024. That pedigree, plus a huge online following, is exactly what McIlroy means by eyeballs. Whether the American decides Europe is where he spends them is the next chapter.
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