Bryson's DP World Tour deadline explained: What next for LIV Golf?

Bryson DeChambeau has lost his DP World Tour exemption for 2028 and 2029; the two-time major winner can still take up membership for 2027 season, but must state his intention to do so by November 15 deadline; What next too for LIV Golf and other star players after league's dissolution?

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Bryson DeChambeau must state his intention to become a DP World Tour member in 2027 by the November 15 deadline or risk missing out.

The future of DeChambeau - who has lost his DP World Tour exemption for 2028 and 2029 - is one of a number of questions still to be answered after LIV Golf announced this week that it will enter liquidation.

How has it got to this point for the breakaway league that threw huge sums of money at the sport and played the role of major disruptor when it entered onto the scene five years ago? And what's next for DeChambeau and other star names assessing their next steps with the demise of the proposed LIV 2.0?

LIV Golf's attempt to establish itself as a permanent rival to the PGA Tour has effectively come to an end as, on November 5, the league confirmed it would begin an orderly wind-down of its operations after failing to secure the financial backing needed to continue.

"The writing was on the wall from April of this year, when the Saudi Public Investment Fund [PIF] announced they'd be pulling the plug, that they wouldn't be investing in the tour any longer," says Sky Sports News' Jamie Weir.

"They came in with the intent to change the face of men's professional golf. £6bn of Saudi money has been pumped into it over the last four years and most of it has gone down the drain.

LIV subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, with investment firm BC Partners emerging as a potential new backer, proposing a deal worth around $300m to help launch LIV 2.0.

However, that rescue plan collapsed amid a mass player exodus and the proposed investment was withdrawn. LIV has now moved towards liquidation rather than attempting to launch another season.

"LIV Golf's eventual demise throws into doubt what the future holds for many, but no one more so than the league's biggest star and most vociferous advocate," says Weir.

"Love him or hate him, DeChambeau has star factor. He puts bums on seats, he commands eyeballs and column inches. He is box office.

"Until the bitter end, he believed fully in LIV 2.0, the phoenix from the flames version of the beleaguered and controversial golf tour.

"One source told me that in a meeting of LIV's 13 team captains in August, when the end was seemingly nigh, DeChambeau was the only one who still passionately felt there was a way forward and attempted to win over the other 12, who were resigned to LIV's fate. No one was willing to take that leap into the unknown with him.

"By virtue of winning the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst, DeChambeau earned a five-year exemption on the DP World Tour. However, the rules state that for every year a major champion fails to take up his membership, they lose a year off the end of this period.

"In other words, having failed to take up DP World Tour membership in 2025 and 2026, DeChambeau lost his exemption for 2028 and 2029.

"That means he does still have the option of taking up membership for the 2027 season, but must inform the Tour of his intention to do so by its deadline of November 15."

"Taking up the exemption would give DeChambeau the opportunity to 'do a Patrick Reed'. In January, Reed took the decision to leave LIV and play his 2026 season solely on the DP World Tour.

"His strong performances (two wins early in the year in Dubai and Qatar, plus runner-up finishes in Bahrain and Ireland) mean the 2018 Masters champion currently sits second on the Race to Dubai standings, and will therefore earn one of 10 PGA Tour cards for 2027.

"However, with the PGA Tour undergoing its own restructure, and moving to a far more cut-throat, meritocratic model in 2028, it is as yet undecided as to whether there will still be 10 cards on offer to DP World Tour members 12 months from now.

"Indications are there will still be some, and that the carrot will remain in place, but the exact number has yet to be specified. So the pathway back to the PGA Tour for DeChambeau, and indeed for many, could be trickier than it has proved to be for Reed.

"Which leaves us with another alternative. The nuclear option, whereby DeChambeau, at the age of just 33, decides he's done with professional golf.

"This is a character who can only be described as one of a kind, with a penchant for always wanting to be the centre of attention.

"Remember, this is the man who threatened to walk out mid-tournament of this year's Open when handed a two-shot penalty for improving his stance.

"A bombshell retirement announcement can certainly not be ruled out, especially given the adulation and gratification he derives from what would appear to be his true passion, content creation.

"There is always the possibility he continues with this, an avenue which clearly brings him great enjoyment, while playing just the four majors and no other professional tournaments. He is exempt for the next 12 major championships, taking him through to The Open in 2029, and beyond that, for the US Open until 2034.

"More recent quotes from DeChambeau would suggest, though, that a return to the top level is still his desire. In August, he said: 'Personally, I'd love to be able to play events on the PGA Tour. I think that's best for golf. I'd love that. It's not an either/or mentality. It's 'can we do both?' I think that's where everybody wants to be.'

"Whether it's delighting his cult following in the content creation space, ruffling feathers in some way, shape or form on one of golf's two biggest tours or contending for major championships, we certainly haven't seen the last of Bryson Aldrich DeChambeau.

"Even if it may not be the case, he'll no doubt believe he holds all the cards. We now have to wait for him to play them."

Former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley believes LIV Golf was destined to fail from the very start, following the news of the former PIF-backed venture being wound down.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland , McGinley said: "I think it was based on bad fundamentals, I think that was the main thing.

"LIV had an idea that team events was going to work in an individual sport that golf is. They also took on the might of America, but as Warren Buffet would say in business terms, 'don't bet against Uncle Sam'.

"They went head-to-head, toe-to-toe with corporate America, which is the backbone of the PGA Tour, and came out on the wrong side of that. They were incredibly strong and able to move the financial needle in order to stand toe-to-toe with the Saudis.

The Golf Channel 's Brandel Chamblee specifically pointed to October 12, and the DP World Tour's announcement that players who signed with LIV 2.0 wouldn't be allowed to play on the tour, as the beginning of the end for LIV.

Chamblee said: "When Guy Kennings [DP World Tour CEO] said what he did, that was the death knell strategically.

"He was saying, 'look, you don't get to have your cake and eat it too'. That is the big, significant moment in in ending LIV Golf.

"We're going to say it's November 5 when LIV died. But really, LIV died on October 12."

McGinley added to Sky Sports: "To be quite blunt and frank, they [LIV players] filled their pockets with money and had made enough they needed to make and now was an opportunity to come back in, join the ecosystem again, get back on the gravy train of the DP World Tour, along with the PGA Tour, back inside the fold and move forward.

"When it became about money and 'is this product [LIV 2.0] believable to go forward and make money?' they obviously decided no and in their heart of hearts they knew that was the case."

Mickelson was arguably the LIV's most significant signing in its early days. The six-time major champion's decision to join in 2022 was a major statement of intent.