When Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) threw its weight behind LIV Golf, it had one aim: to flip professional golf on its head. No denying their billion-dollar bet stirred the pot, but with PIF now conveniently out of the way, the burning question is, can LIV afford a star like Bryson DeChambeau? Surprisingly, the Crushers GC captain himself sounds doubtful about LIV’s honoring his current contract.

Ahead of the Virginia tournament, asked if he believed he would get paid the remainder of his contract, DeChambeau’s short and cynical response was: “Your guess is as good as mine.” A sharp turnaround from his staunch support for LIV less than a week ago. At that time, the 32-year-old reaffirmed his faith in LIV, calling rumors of his exit “completely untrue.” Now, that confidence is gone, and rather, there is a sense of seething frustration.

Asked to share his thoughts on PIF’s abrupt exit, Bryson said, “I was completely shocked. I didn’t expect it to happen. A couple months before that, it’s like, ‘We’re here until 2032. We’ve got financing until 2032,’ and so I told everybody, and that’s what I was told.” The entire fiasco has DeChambeau questioning the lack of transparency inside the league.

“And then, you know, I haven’t had any communication. And unfortunately, things are moving on in a different direction. Obviously, they wanted to move on,” the Crushers GC captain added, clearly irked at the management for keeping players in the dark. But as it turns out, LIV’s top brass are grappling with the same uncertainty, which became abundantly clear from CEO Scott O’Neil’s comments.

When asked about offering DeChambeau a new deal, O’Neil dodged with a cryptic statement, “I’m not sure. We’ll sort through and work through,” adding, “Bryson’s special. He’s different and special… He’s smart, he’s driven, he’s committed, and he’s a heck of a partner.”

Now, Bryson DeChambeau is reportedly eyeing a $500M contract extension for the next chapter. But with PIF out of the picture, that’s a long shot at best, and O’Neil’s vague reply doesn’t inspire much hope either. We have yet to see how Gibson Dunn & Crutcher’s involvement changes the LIV landscape. But right now, the specter of top stars mulling an exit is a real possibility, and the next name in line might be Jon Rahm.

“Right now, I have several years in my contract left. I’m pretty sure they did a pretty good job when they drafted that, so I don’t see many ways out. Right now, I’m not really thinking about it because we still have a season to play and majors to compete for,” the Spaniard, who recently reached an agreement with the DP World Tour, said from Virginia.

These comments from top players somewhat validate earlier reports, which LIV tried to deny. Word was the pros didn’t get paid for Q1 until the event in Mexico City. Neither did some employees. Thomas Pieters faced a related question and vaguely replied, “We got paid, or we are getting paid.”

When prodded further during an interview with Dan Rapaport, he admitted the payment could be “a week late,” though “some got it early, some got it a week late,” adding, “I’m not sure all these guys check their bank accounts every two seconds.”

Pieters, notably, said he would retire if LIV Golf folds. But Bryson DeChambeau clearly has other plans, and it’s not returning to the PGA Tour.

Bryson DeChambeau has YouTube to look forward to, not the PGA Tour

Curiously enough, DeChambeau was more enthusiastic when the conversation was around his YouTube channel. “I think, from my perspective, I’d love to grow my YouTube channel three times, maybe even more,” the two-time U.S. Open winner said, whose channel is only getting “bigger and bigger.”

In fact, along with Bryan Bros, he launched a new YouTube venture. He is also planning to release his content in different languages to bring global attention. But DeChambeau’s YouTube obsession is old news. In fact, he has gone so far as to claim that he can sustain playing YouTube Golf and just four majors.

That vision was put to the test at the Masters. He played a YouTube match paired with Garrett Clark against two random amateurs. In the video, DeChambeau said it might help his Masters preparation. Barely a week later, DeChambeau went on to miss the cut at Augusta National. Regardless, his dedication to YouTube has a bigger reason.

Sure, the channel launched some five years back, but it’s still pulling big numbers, including nearly 2.7M subscribers. On average, each video snags at least 22 million views, netting him roughly $800,000 yearly from ads. Still, it’d take over 100 years of those YouTube bucks to touch his golf course haul, according to a report by MyGolfSpy.

But to him, it’s definitely better than facing consequences by returning to the PGA Tour. Meanwhile, LIV Golf aims to turn its 13 teams into actual franchises, and O’Neil confirmed in Virginia that those teams would come player-stocked. That spells serious waiting games for the pros on payments or any clarity about their LIV future. Rahm, for one, admitted the stars might swallow lower pay to keep the league afloat.

DeChambeau, though? He knows what he will do if LIV ends tomorrow.