Brandel Chamblee Softens Stance on LIV Golf: Here’s Why

Brandel Chamblee softened his stance on LIV Golf and the prospect of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) after being perhaps the most outspoken critic of the two entities in the world of golf media.

Chamblee has criticized everything from LIV to the players who joined the tour to the involvement of the Saudi PIF for several years, aiming to speak into existence a moral high ground for those who have avoided the PGA TOUR rival.

However, it seems even Chamblee is softening his stance, especially as PGA TOUR leadership said yesterday that it is coming “closer” to a deal with the PIF and LIV after President Donald Trump’s involvement with negotiations.

🚨 BREAKING: The PGA TOUR thanked President Donald Trump for bringing the TOUR closer to a deal with the PIF and LIV Golf pic.twitter.com/fWayUP3KVO

— Golficity (@Golficity) February 6, 2025

Chamblee admitted on Golf Channel today from a broadcast at the WM Phoenix Open that President Trump even may have changed his mind during a round the two played together in 2024. Notably, his thoughts were that Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, could be a tremendous partner to the game.

He said during the broadcast during the second round:

“I had the pleasure of playing with President Trump last year, and almost after every single hole…he would want to come over and talk about LIV golf, the Saudi’s involvement in LIV Golf. He was so magnanimous about our differences. At one point, he said, ‘Look, I know you and I differ on this opinion, but hear me out: Yasir loves golf more than you do and more than I do.’

That’s hard to believe because President Trump loves golf, and I’m crazy about it. But he was serious. He said, ‘He loves golf that much. They have $32 trillion in oil underneath that sand, and they really have to diversify their economy. They’re all in on this, and they’re not going anywhere.’

As the round progressed, he would want to talk almost every hole about LIV and about the Saudi involvement and how excited he was for it. Geopolitical issues aside, of course, I understand why we need Saudi Arabia as a partner in the Middle East. My issues were about the human rights concerns and how golf was, at some point, going to have to apologize for some issues.

He said, ‘Just look farther into the future. It’s going to be good for Saudi Arabia, it’s going to be good for the PGA TOUR, it’s going to be good for LIV. At the end of the day, did I agree with him? No. But I gotta say he made strong points all day long. I wouldn’t say he was adamant about it, but he was as opinionated on one side of it as I was. I was grateful for the conversation. At the end of it, he did change my mind. He made me think about Yasir as a partner in the game of golf.”

TRUMP GOT TO @chambleebrandel!!! And threw him a life vest. Folks, you cannot make this stuff up. The dominoes are falling fast!!! 😂 🙌🏽 @GolfChannel pic.twitter.com/lhCz3XE5cO

— Pro Golf Critic (@ProGolfCritic) February 7, 2025

It’s yet another instance of the stance of someone softening after talking to President Trump about the future of professional golf. It seems his involvement with the PGA TOUR might have even caused some movement in the direction of a deal, although it is relatively unknown how much of an influence he truly had.

With that being said, the PGA TOUR did thank him for his involvement. However, we didn’t see him shifting Chamblee’s stance on LIV Golf whatsoever.

Cover Image via GolfWRX