Winning majors can give Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau much-needed leverage amid LIV Golf's uncertain future

It would be hard to imagine a worse month for LIV Golf than this April. Their top stars, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, had brutal showings at the Masters despite arriving fresh off three straight combined wins. Days after DeChambeau missed the cut and Rahm clawed his way to a T38 at Augusta National, reports emerged that the tour was losing all its funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund after the 2026 season, which was eventually confirmed weeks later.

That news threw the entire operation into chaos with serious questions about how LIV Golf will continue to exist without a blank check from the PIF -- and what form it will take with more discerning funding. 

The futures of Rahm and DeChambeau have been of particular intrigue to fans, who have long wanted the game's best back together again on the PGA Tour more regularly. All parties involved have pushed back on the potential for a swift reconciliation. 

DeChambeau, set to be a free agent after this season, cited the PGA Tour's content creation restrictions among his concerns about coming back, while Rahm noted he's under contract and "doesn't see many ways out" of it right now.

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has insisted they aren't spending much time focused on the path back for those stars right now, given they're still under contract, but noted they'll have to weigh the benefits for the PGA Tour with the reality of the scar tissue remaining from their departures -- particularly DeChambeau, who sued the PGA Tour upon his departure. 

All of that serves as the backdrop for the arrival of Rahm and DeChambeau at Aronimink Golf Club just outside Philadelphia for the 2026 PGA Championship. While DeChambeau opted against holding a pre-tournament press conference, Rahm sat with the assembled media on Tuesday morning and answered questions about LIV's future and how he's navigating the uncertainty. 

Rahm insists he's only focused on what he can control, which is what he does on the golf course, and the rest will sort itself out.  

"It is something we've had to deal with -- obviously, the week of Mexico and last week a little bit more -- but it's just some things that are out of my control. I think I said it last week, out of the few talents I have in my life, fixing a business is not one of them. I might be the worst person for that," Rahm said. "So my job is to play golf. Luckily, I'm decent at it. And that's what I can focus on, right? What I can focus on is the next shot. It's the people in charge of LIV, whose job I do not envy for a second, not now, not when things are going good, because it's not something I think I can do. It's their job to fix it.

"So when it comes to compartmentalizing, when you see it from that point of view, there's really not much to it," Rahm added. "I have faith in the work that they're doing. I have faith that they're going to come up with a good plan. Until that plan is explained to us, it's essentially -- not that there isn't anything to worry about, but I don't think I need to add any attention to it."

That seems to run in stark contrast to DeChambeau, whom LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil called "a business partner" and noted they've discussed together what future iterations of LIV Golf could look like. However, as different as LIV's top stars are in approaching its shaky financial future, they both have to be keenly aware of the importance of this particular tournament -- as well as the upcoming U.S. Open and Open Championship -- to affirming their positions as top players in the game. 

At this point, neither player has much leverage to make any demands on the PGA Tour to offer them a generous agreement for their potential return. Not only is it highly unlikely there are nine-figure deals available to them beyond their current LIV Golf deals, but the PGA Tour has also succeeded despite their absence and is home to the last six major winners. 

The best way for Rahm and/or DeChambeau to put themselves in a position to make some form of demands of the PGA Tour that have teeth -- or to entice potential LIV Golf investors -- is to make it clear that the PGA Tour isn't the best possible product without them. 

That's the most important thing to Rolapp, and while he certainly understands that Rahm and DeChambeau are great players, if they're holding active major titles and beating the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler in the process, it undoubtedly shifts the possible negotiations. 

Rolapp genuinely seems to care about what fans want and then tries to balance that alongside what the PGA Tour membership views as important. If Rahm and DeChambeau aren't winning majors, there's less urgency to bring them back in the fold, but the moment they're hoisting major trophies again, the chatter builds and pressure shifts back to the PGA Tour to figure out how to get them back in the fold. 

As much as they diverge when it comes to the business side -- Rahm avoiding it at all costs, while DeChambeau wants to be hands-on -- their futures are going to be determined by what they do on the golf course, and specifically in major championships. After a no-show at the Masters, the pressure ramps up at Aronimink Golf Club to reclaim their positions at the top of the golf world and remind everyone that professional golf isn't complete without their presence.