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Brandel Chamblee is not a man to mince words, especially when it comes to LIV Golf.
The Golf Channel analyst recently sat down with Trey Wingo on the Straight Facts Homie podcast to discuss what might be the most memorable golf season of the post-Tiger Woods era.
The pair touched on a lot: A look back at Rory McIlroy’s quest for a career Grand Slam at the Masters, how Tommy Fleetwood’s FedEx Cup victory is showing strength in the PGA Tour, the Scottie Scheffler versus Tiger Woods debate, and what it will take for the U.S. to win the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black against Europe. And, of course, Chamblee’s favourite topic: LIV Golf.
Here’s what he had to say:
“All LIV Golf did was buy a moment in time, and it’s such a poor product. They understand golf so rudimentarily that they’re not capable of creating their own moments. The only way they can even buy a moment in time is to sort of parasitically poach players—that’s it. They don’t have a conduit to creating stars or interest in the game.
“There are sports everywhere, and people only watch sports that matter. There’s nothing about LIV Golf that matters, and it’s a horrible product.
Chamblee then turned his attention to Bryson DeChambeau, one of LIV Golf’s biggest names, and questioned whether he actually drives interest.
“When people say, ‘Yeah, but Bryson’s a heck of a player and he moves the needle,’ I’m like, ‘No, he doesn’t. Where’s the evidence?’ He’s playing on LIV, he’s winning, he’s finishing in prime time on the East Coast, and more people watch pickleball. You’re not going to tell me he moves the needle. Set a camera up and watch Tiger Woods chip in his backyard—it will outrate a LIV event. For that matter, it may even outrate a PGA Tour event. At least the PGA Tour events are getting three and a half million viewers on a random week. LIV has these so-called draws, but nobody’s watching the product. LIV does not matter.”
He wasn’t done there; his criticism wasn’t just about players. Chamblee also pointed to the league’s shotgun start format and lack of tradition.
“There’s no merit to it; there’s no meaning to it. They’re finishing on the third hole or the second hole, and winning on the 17th. There’s no flow to it. It’s clear that the people who tried to put it together had no idea about the history of the game. It just hasn’t resonated. They’ve spent over $10 billion, and they can hardly get anybody to watch.”
According to the 63-year-old, even the players who joined LIV aren’t benefiting in the long run. He argued their games have gone backwards since making the move.
“All of these guys, yeah, they’re golfers, but deep down, they all love being relevant. They would love to be competitors, but now they’re irrelevant. Nobody talks about them. Nobody cares what they’re doing.
“Four times a year, when they come to major championships, they drag the dirty laundry and baggage of LIV to those events, and it mucks up the atmosphere a little.
“They bought a dozen to 15 pretty good players. So it stands to reason a couple of them at majors will play decent. But if you look at the data on every single player before and after they went to LIV, with very few exceptions, their games have deteriorated substantially.
“Look at Jon Rahm before and after, deteriorated. Dustin Johnson before and after, deteriorated. Sergio Garcia before and after, deteriorated. You go down the list—it’s doing them harm from a professional standpoint.
“Yeah, they’re all making money if that’s all you care about, but they’re not playing for history. They’re not playing for legacy. Their careers have really subsided.”
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