Rory McIlroy says DeChambeau 'brings eyeballs' to the DP World Tour

Rory McIlroy said Tuesday that Bryson DeChambeau would bring “eyeballs” to the DP World Tour and has few apparent options for competitive golf after the LIV Golf League folded.

McIlroy spoke with reporters in Dubai before the DP World Tour Championship, the European circuit’s season finale. The LIV Golf League shut down last week after bankruptcy court proceedings.

ESPN reported that the DP World Tour might be DeChambeau’s only competitive golf option for 2027, with no apparent route back to the PGA Tour that year. The American is 33 and has won the U.S. Open two times.

“I think a name like Bryson DeChambeau and everything he brings with him, good and bad, he brings eyeballs, which is a good thing for tournaments,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy said he is not in DeChambeau’s position and would never want to be. “You know, if he wants to play competitive golf, it doesn't seem like he's got many options,” he said.

DeChambeau addressed LIV’s end in a social media statement Sunday. “I'm not going to rewrite the last four years,” he wrote.

He wrote that he stood by his decision and appreciated playing for fans around the world “who rarely got to see the best players at home.” DeChambeau wrote, “Whatever comes next, I'll approach it with humility and respect for the people who carried this game long before me.”

His statement gave no future playing plans beyond a Nedbank Golf Challenge start.

DeChambeau can seek DP World Tour membership for 2027 through a recent major champion exemption, which he earned by winning the 2024 U.S. Open. Membership would give him an opportunity to regain his PGA Tour card for 2028.

ESPN reported that the tour’s 2027 player commitment deadline is Nov. 16, while The Irish Times put it at Nov. 15. It was not immediately known whether DeChambeau will apply before the deadline.

Other golfers have received PGA Tour suspensions lasting a year from their final LIV start. DeChambeau declined an offer to return in January through a New Member Program that Brooks Koepka used.

DeChambeau joined other LIV golfers in a federal lawsuit accusing the PGA Tour of using monopoly power to squash competition, according to ESPN. ESPN reported that the tour is not expected to address former LIV players’ status before LIV’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy is finalized in early January.

Patrick Reed returned by another route. The former Masters champion departed LIV in January and resumed PGA Tour competition in August, a year after his last LIV start. ESPN put him third in the DP World Tour’s season-long points race after he played the circuit this past season, with PGA Tour cards for 2027 going to the top 10.

“To be honest with you, I mean, I don't really get any satisfaction from making a decision and watching the other guys have to sit out a year and have the repercussions of that,” Reed said Tuesday. Many of those players are close friends, he said, and he hopes they can return to the PGA Tour as he did.

Other former LIV players have chosen Europe for 2027, including Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.

McIlroy, meanwhile, would secure a fifth straight Race to Dubai title by winning at Jumeirah Golf Estates. An eighth title would draw him level with Colin Montgomerie.

DeChambeau is scheduled to compete in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, from Dec. 3 to Dec. 6.