Bryson DeChambeau’s agent all but confirms he’s headed to LIV Golf

More high-profile players are headed to the LIV Golf circuit, according to a report Wednesday in the Telegraph.

Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed are poised to join the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit “imminently,” the Telegraph reported, with the announcement expected to come during the tour’s first event this week in London.

“Bryson has always been an innovator. Having the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something unique has always been intriguing to him. Professional golf as we know it is changing and it’s happening quickly,” DeChambeau’s manager Brett Falkoff said in a statement.

Reed did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the report. A spokesperson for LIV Golf declined to comment. Both players are in the field for next week’s U.S. Open.

DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open champion, had previously been linked to the Saudi-backed tour, but stated in February that “as long as the best players in the world are playing the PGA Tour, so will I.” After missing the cut in the Masters, he had hand surgery and returned last week at the Memorial Tournament. Following an opening 76, DeChambeau was asked if that injury – which occurred in February’s Saudi International – affected his decision-making into not joining the LIV Golf league.

“For me, I personally don’t think that at this point in time I’m in a place in my career where I can risk things like that,” he said last Thursday at Muirfield Village. “I’m loyal to my family that I’ve created around me with sponsors and everything. And as of right now, the golf world is probably going to change in some capacity. I don’t know what that is. Not my job to do so. I’m just going to keep playing professional golf and enjoy it wherever it takes me, play with the best players in the world. That’s really all I’ve got, that’s what I’ll do for the rest of my life, because I want to be one of the best players in the world.”

Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis reported that, like Phil Mickelson, DeChambeau will not resign his membership from the PGA Tour. Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen were among those who resigned their membership to join the LIV circuit.

The first LIV event begins Thursday at Centurion Club with a 48-player field that includes Johnson, Mickelson, Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Talor Gooch. It is the first of eight scheduled for 2022. The next tournament will be played in Portland, Oregon, June 30-July 2.