Graeme McDowell has said that he regrets how he spoke about LIV Golf “growing the game” at its launch and said he should have just said it was “good for his bank account”.
The Irish golfer told Sports Illustrated that he hoped the “nasty” narrative about the tour could be shifted after the withdrawal of funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
“I regret a few things I said in the beginning,” McDowell said. “Stuff like growing the game. I should have just said it for what it was: this is good for my bank account, and I’m getting a runway to play the game of golf for as long as I can.
“I don’t think we could have ever imagined how deep this would go. The hatred. It’s funny, but if we can shift the narrative away from Saudi Arabia and bring some US money and get rid of that narrative … because that narrative is just nasty.”
McDowell said there was a lot of “excess” in LIV at the beginning and he would not be against downsizing to make the tour commercially viable.
“It was maybe a little too flashy on some levels. The purse prizes are incredible. The complacency that can come with that is just embarrassing. You obviously adjust to your surroundings and get on with it.”
McDowell is playing the LIV Virginia event this week, the tour’s first stop in the US this season, as is Tom McKibbin, who has received an invitation to play in the PGA Championship next week, making it four Irish players in the field (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington are also qualified). It comes as his Legion XIII team-mate Jon Rahm has settled all his fines with the DP World Tour, making him eligible for the 2027 Ryder Cup.
In an agreement similar to that signed by eight other LIV golfers in February, he will pay all outstanding fines for playing in events which conflicted with DP World Tour events.
Rahm has been sanctioned for three conflicting tournaments this season, in addition to about €2.3 million in fines since 2023. In exchange for securing conditional releases for 2026, Rahm has also agreed to play in DP World Tour tournaments in the remainder of his year.
Meanwhile, amid the uncertainty surrounding LIV Golf’s future, Bryson DeChambeau is contemplating his next move if the circuit shuts down after this season, including a possible return to the PGA Tour.
DeChambeau said he has talked to the PGA Tour, while also looking into the possibility of expanding his YouTube channel.
“I think, from my perspective, I’d love to grow my YouTube channel three times, maybe even more,” DeChambeau said.
“I would love to. I’d love to do a bunch of dubbing in different languages, giving the world more reason to watch YouTube. And then I’d love to play tournaments that want me.”