It was the 2021 Open Championship. A lackluster Bryson DeChambeau could only hit 4 out of the 14 fairways in the first round of the major. His response: “The driver sucks!” This reaction was just one of many instances that heightened people’s distaste for the current LIV Golf pro. But then, what changed? For anyone who has followed the recent majors, the answer is pretty obvious. Yes, it’s nothing other than content creation.

The golfer’s image made a drastic U-turn from his previous perception of “being a douchey guy” to the “new Arnie, the future of golf.” A Reddit post shared by a user known as ‘GrailThe’ pointed out the same while predicting how Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammad bin Salman, along with LIV, might “make stupid money offers to top YouTube golf channels to feature LIV players, promote LIV, etc.” The user also highlighted how “the entire goal of “Sportswashing” is to curry favor of the sports fans,” while alluding to how YouTube has been doing just that!

While the prediction on the social media platform is just food for thought, one can’t help but recount DeChambeau’s words after the second round of the 2024 PGA Championship. He had said, “I’ve worked really hard to have people help hopefully understand who I am a little bit better,” before mentioning how “YouTube had been a great platform to help that out.” The LIV Golf Pro further explained how his ‘Break 50’ series, something that hasn’t been done before, helps entertain the fans.

He sure did stand by his belief: “Being able to entertain the fans is what we’re all here to do, and I think that’s what’s the most important thing.” The post on Reddit, meanwhile, created nothing short of a frenzy on the internet as people flocked to respond to it.

Bryson DeChambeau, LIV Golf, YouTube; fans respond to the Reddit prediction

In 2023, the LIV Golf Pro collaborated with Grant Horvat to create some content for YouTube. The content creator worked with the golfer and did a lot of challenges together, including a stroke play match between the two, not to mention the Break 50 video. A fan, thus, came forward and mentioned how his “money’s on Grant,” while alluding to the Reddit forecast. Maybe allowing the YouTuber to be a part of his 2024 U.S. Open victory by touching the trophy also added to the assumptions!

The YouTube channel known as ‘thePNUK’, in 2022, posted a series of pieces of content connecting Saudi businesspeople and three YouTube golf influencers, namely Rick Shiels, Peter Finch, and the Jazzy Golfer. The videos claimed that the Saudi businesses owned a share of a PR marketing firm known as Performance54. People reportedly assumed the company to be at the core of the online community. This led to many people responding with comments such as “They’ve been involved with big golf YouTube channels for years” and “Word on the street is that they already have money in some of the big channels but have kept it pretty hush. I have no way of knowing if that’s true just have seen it talked about on other subreddits.”

People widely regard Arnold Palmer as one of the most charismatic and greatest athletes to play golf. He was one of the best players the game ever produced, with 95 professional wins, including 62 PGA Tour victories involving seven majors. When Bryson DeChambeau was compared to the legend, a fan couldn’t help but react: “he’s the new Arnie, the future of golf” I haven’t heard this take. He’s definitely turned the opinion around but I haven’t heard him compared to Arnie. If anyone is getting up there it’s Scottie Scheffler.”

The Saudi-backed league is known for dishing out huge purses for each of its events, along with providing a good amount of money to sign golfers. DeChambeau himself has been known to do the same and join LIV Golf for a figure of around $125 million. A user alluded to the same while sarcastically hinting at the revenue to be made through YouTube: “Great! More money for athletes.” However, this will only be possible if more LIV players do as the post suggested and interact with such platforms. The question then naturally arises; Will they actually create YouTube content in the future? Only time will tell!