Brandel Chamblee: LIV Golf is ‘part-time job’ for Bryson DeChambeau

Brandel Chamblee has made no secret of his disdain for LIV Golf’s format and competitive relevance over the past two years.

Just last month, he called the breakaway league’s 54-hole events “laughable” and “an insult to the integrity of competition.”

And the former PGA Tour pro-turned NBC analyst has now questioned how much the 14 tournaments really mean to LIV’s man of the moment Bryson DeChambeau.

Speaking ahead of his early Thursday tee time at the 152nd Open, Chamblee and former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley were debating what makes DeChambeau tick in the major tournaments after his epic US Open win.

“He doesn’t need to play a lot of reps competitively like 99.9% of other players have to do,” McGinley said, stressing that DeChambeau prefers to spend time perfecting his unique equipment. “He can go from the lab out to competing in major championships.”

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“I don’t think he’s that interested in how he plays in LIV.” At that point, Chamblee interjects: “It’s a part time job.”

DeChambeau has saved his best golf for the majors this season and is among the favourites to win the Claret Jug at Royal Troon after his heroics at Pinehurst.

McGinley, however, was quick to clear up that his point was no criticism of LIV or DeChambeau.

“The usual,” he wrote, replying to a clip of his comments on X. “Show a clip out of context discussing his brilliance in majors this year. Lose my point that to a small few, Tours are secondary as they prep for Majors. Instead, make it look like I’m slamming LIV. Don’t show where I’ve said LIV has been a great platform for him.”

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DeChambeau, meanwhile, has said that his reduced schedule since switching domains has allowed him to re-launch his career.

“It would have been impossible for me to have come this far again without LIV,” the Californian told the Telegraph this week.

“It gave me the time to get healthy and develop. I came to LIV and suddenly there were players in the same boat as me. Because they were getting stick as well not from the LIV fans but seemingly everywhere else. I was not alone in being disliked and could share these feelings with my team-mates and my colleagues.

“But slowly that has changed and whether it was the thing with the PGA Tour (framework agreement) people are coming around to what we are all about. It’s about moving an inch and ideating a mile. We have come a long way and we continue to move progressively in small incremental amounts. It’s just going to domino at some point.”

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.