Brandel Chamblee has delivered another brutal assessment of LIV Golf, arguing that the Saudi-backed league could attract some of the biggest names in professional golf but could not buy the loyalty and credibility of the sport’s audience.
LIV Golf was launched four years ago with huge financial backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), disrupting professional golf by offering enormous contracts and guaranteed money to players willing to leave the PGA Tour. Stars such as Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka became some of the most recognizable names to make the switch.
However, Chamblee believes the strategy had a fundamental flaw.
According to the longtime LIV critic, the league assumed that bringing elite players on board would automatically bring golf fans with them. He argued that while LIV could secure the players, it could not purchase the credibility they had built throughout their careers or the audiences that followed them.
“The Saudis have successfully invested in other sports,” Chamblee said. “Why did their attempts to take over golf fail?”
He then gave his explanation, arguing that LIV “could purchase the players, but it couldn’t purchase their credibility—or the audience that had made them valuable in the first place.”
Chamblee’s comments come at a particularly uncertain moment for LIV Golf. Following the 2026 Masters, reports emerged that PIF would withdraw its multibillion-dollar financial backing of the league at the end of the season. That development left LIV facing questions over its long-term future and forced CEO Scott O’Neil to look for alternative investment.
LIV has reportedly found a potential new lead investor, with London-based private equity firm BC Partners understood to be involved. However, the future of the league remains unclear, particularly with speculation surrounding some of its biggest stars.
DeChambeau has publicly indicated that he wants to remain with LIV while also returning to competing on the PGA Tour. Rahm, meanwhile, has been linked with a potential departure, adding another layer of uncertainty to LIV’s future.
Chamblee believes the league’s association with Saudi Arabia has also been a major obstacle.
He argued that fans recognized what he described as “sportwashing” and rejected the idea that huge spending could automatically create genuine support for a new golf organization.
“LIV assumed golf fans could be bought along with the players,” Chamblee wrote. “They couldn’t.”
The former PGA Tour player has been one of LIV Golf’s most outspoken critics since the league’s creation. He has repeatedly questioned the motivations of players who left the PGA Tour and has been particularly critical of Mickelson, whom he has previously accused of causing significant damage to professional golf.
Now, with LIV facing another period of uncertainty, Chamblee believes separating the organization from its Saudi backing could potentially give it a fresh opportunity—but he remains doubtful about whether a smaller version of LIV can succeed.
“Perhaps ridding itself of the Saudi sportswashing connection will give LIV new life,” he argued, “but it’s hard to imagine an anemic version of the tour will succeed where the bloated one failed.”
The controversy surrounding LIV has also been compounded by reports that its season-ending Team Championship has been cancelled. Tickets for the $40 million event in Michigan reportedly became unavailable, although LIV Golf has yet to officially confirm the tournament’s status.
If the event is indeed cancelled, LIV would instead conclude its season in Indianapolis next week, bringing an end to another turbulent chapter in the league’s short history.
Rahm enters the finale as one of LIV’s biggest winners after securing his third individual title at the New York event. At the same time, the reported cancellation has opened the door for several LIV players to compete elsewhere.
Tyrrell Hatton has committed to the British Masters at The Belfry, while Tom McKibbin and Adrian Meronk are also expected to compete in the $3.5 million tournament from August 27–30.
For LIV Golf, the coming months could prove decisive. The league has succeeded in changing the landscape of professional golf and attracting some of the sport’s biggest stars, but its ability to build a sustainable fanbase and secure a long-term financial future remains under scrutiny.
And for Chamblee, those unresolved questions are precisely why he believes LIV’s original strategy ultimately failed.