While LIV Golf’s future hangs in the balance, one of its marquee names found a rather different use of his Tuesday. Bryson DeChambeau was at the White House for the reinstatement of the Presidential Fitness Test and ended up in a push-up contest with Gary Player on the South Lawn. The video has gone viral on X, showing the two golfers in an amusing face-off in front of children, officials, and cameras.

DeChambeau was appointed the Chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition at a White House ceremony in July 2025. Today, he was part of the event as he signed the executive order to revive the Presidential Fitness Test. The memorandum aims to restore the competitive school-based fitness benchmark that has been phased out in recent years. The whole idea is to introduce a “health pandemic,” as Trump puts it, and push for a curriculum giving students of all fitness levels attainable goals and awards for progress.

Bryson DeChambeau was not alone; the council’s membership also widens to prominent entities like Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sörenstam, and Gary Player.

Speaking to the children at the event, Bryson added some words of enthusiasm, “I just want to say to the kids, the most important thing you can do is always get 1 percent better a day. That’s the most important thing I can give you guys. Try to be a better version of yourself every day, because one day you could be up here as well.”

All in all, the event was a wonderful wrap. Most of the reactions online have been centric to Gary Player’s enthusiasm, especially for his age. And unsurprisingly, Bryson stopped, the push-ups before Gary did-Yes. However, in addition to that, the timing of the whole contest has sparked a big discussion among the players.

DeChambeau is looking at one of the most difficult stretches in his career right now. His contract at LIV expires at the end of the 2026 season, and talks have been going on for a while with no confirmed deal so far. As for the league, it is also fighting to stay afloat, with no financial backing confirmed beyond August. On the greens, things have not been panning out smoothly for Bryson either. Recently, he was forced out of LIV Mexico City due to a wrist injury two weeks ago. And now he is hoping to be fit for LIV Virginia, which begins Thursday with the PGA Championship stacked a week later.

So, given the background and the tough sailing LIV League and its players are facing right now, the comments about the event are as mixed as one might think.

Fans call out the contrast in Bryson DeChambeau’s questionable move

The reactions came in mixed and fast, and none of them were particularly kind to the bigger picture.

One fan took to the platform and wrote, “Bryson DeChambeau is doing everything but worrying about the future of LIV today.”

LIV has made some drastic changes in and outside its administration to save the ship from collapsing. As of recently, LIV has hired a restructuring expert and consulting firms like AlixPartners. In addition to that, the internal structures were also changed as Yasir Al-Rumayyan, one of the co-founders, stepped down as chairman, and the league has hired two new members to its board.

To top it all off, LIV Golf has had to cut down its biggest strength, the prize purse, significantly, as it no longer has financial backing. All in all, it’s a tough and uncertain position for the players to be in, and the comments seem to be taking a sharp dig at that.

The gap in energy between DeChambeau and the rest of the LIV locker room also did not go unnoticed on the platform.

One user wrote, “Everyone else on LIV: Worrying about the future and if the league will exist next year. Bryson DeChambeau: Doing a push-up contest against Gary Player (!!!) on the White House lawn.”

Despite the hard situations, DeChambeau has publicly maintained he is committed to making things work, saying, “I am working as hard as I can to find a solution,” and insisting that he has not given up on a new contract.

Despite the harsh comments, not all reactions were cynical. Some fans simply enjoyed the spectacle. “Golf rivalry turns into fun strength showdown,” one post read. Another noted the broader absurdity. “Funny, they have golfers at the fitness test, the least physical sport of them all.”

DeChambeau has dismantled the image that golf is just a walking park sport for years now. At the White House, President Donald Trump was also forced to compliment Bryson on his physique. He famously had bulked up to 240 pounds of muscle, which prompted the compliment.

“Bryson’s amazing… He’s somebody that can put on 25, 30– at one point, I guess he put on almost 50 pounds. You remember? He looked like a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And he decided he didn’t like himself in that way.”

Bryson DeChambeau is known to follow the ideology to be 1% better every day, and his achievements on both the courses, the PGA, and the LIV Golf have earned him a standing reputation.

Through it all, the best steal is certainly by Gary Player, who stopped the fans in their tracks. Multiple comments came in appreciating Gary’s strength, especially at his age. “Holy moly, at 91 years old, it looks as though he’s keeping up with Bryson.”

At 87, Player told a reporter he spends 90 minutes in the gym daily, pressing 300 pounds with his legs and completing 200 sit-ups per session. The push-up contest on the south lane was not out of character. Perhaps it was just a Tuesday for Gary Player.