For the majority of his career, Bryson DeChambeau has been a polarizing figure. From his decision to remain unvaccinated (which resulted in his absence from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics), to being very close to the Trump family, the 28-year-old has been in the news for various reasons. However, his unwavering claim for the PGA Tour, and the consequent switch to the LIV Golf series, angers fans to this day. But an excerpt from the incredible ant-trust lawsuit, filed by 11 rebel series golfers, reveals DeChambeau’s support for the PGA Tour was rather forceful.

The LIV Golf Lawsuit

Since PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan sent out the memo regarding threats to sue from rebel golfers, some key details from the anti-trust lawsuit have been revealed. The situation we are talking about is visible on page no. 166, which discloses PGA’s threats to rebel golfers.

Read more: ‘This is your TOUR’: PGA Tour Commissioner Does Not See LIV Golf for What it’s Worth

It goes on like this. The Tour’s threats of punishment and career destruction greatly affected LIV Golf’s ability to sign enough elite professional golfers to fill out its League. Some players (including Plaintiff DeChambeau) who had previously signed contracts with LIV Golf were forced to publicly profess loyalty to the Tour. Other players who had previously agreed in principle to all terms with LIV Golf informed LIV Golf that they now could not sign, and instead publicly professed loyalty to the Tour. Players who had been enthusiastic about joining LIV Golf informed LIV Golf that they regrettably could not join in light of these threats. Just as Commissioner Monahan had predicted in his 2020 Memorandum outlining the PGA Tour’s plan to attack a new entrant, a competing tour without player support would prove unable to pose a competitive threat to the PGA Tour.

The details of the lawsuit mentioned clearly that some golfers “had previously signed contracts with LIV Golf” and then “were forced to publicly profess loyalty to the Tour”. On 14th February, DeChambeau took to social media to seemingly end the speculation regarding his future, but if the details of the lawsuit are anything to go by, he was simply being threatened by the PGA Tour to give in. While this excerpt only mentioned DeChambeau as a plaintiff, this could have been the case for other professional golfers as well, who decided to join LIV after initially supporting the PGA Tour.

LIV rebels who formerly supported the PGA Tour along with Bryson DeChambeau

Apart from Bryson DeChambeau, several other stars weren’t forthcoming about their LIV contracts. American golfer Dustin Johnson had penned a long note to show his trust in the PGA, only to switch sides when a 9-figure amount arrived in the account. Even Phil Mickelson, who hasn’t been in the good books at PGA, claimed he wasn’t sure if he wanted LIV Golf to succeed. But he used his position to force the PGA Tour into structural changes, the effects of which were visible when the PGA announced its new schedule for the year 2022-23.

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