Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee agrees with Rory McIlroy that a PGA Tour, PIF deal is now the ‘better end of the bargain’.
Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee has followed Rory McIlroy in making a complete 180 turn on the PGA Tour‘s stance regarding Saudi Arabian investment in the sport.
Chamblee, who won his sole PGA Tour title at the 1998 Greater Vancouver Open, has been one of the most vocal critics of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) ever since its involvement in creating the breakaway LIV Golf circuit in the summer of 2022.
“One of the saddest days in pro golf,” a disgruntled Chamblee said following the PGA Tour’s announcement last June that it was planning a shock merger with LIV Golf’s bankrollers, PIF.
You only need to scroll through Chamblee’s Twitter timeline over the past two years to see how he really feels about the PIF’s involvement in the game.
Or should we say, felt.
Fast forward nearly 12 months, and both McIlroy and Chamblee now both consider a deal between the PGA Tour and PIF must be struck in a bid to help unify the professional game.
Although McIlroy confirmed this week he has been denied a chance to return to the PGA Tour policy board, he has been selected as part of a seven-person ‘transaction subcommittee’ that will represent the PGA Tour in its ongoing negotiations with PIF.
While Chamblee admits he would not have said the below quotes 12 months ago, he now feels the PGA Tour must sign off its framework agreement with PIF because it is now ‘the better end of the bargain’.
In the eyes of Chamblee, the PGA Tour cannot compete with LIV Golf’s spending spree and continue to lose some of its biggest stars like it has done over recent seasons in Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith.
Golf Channel Brandel Chamblee in his biggest about-face since the Framework Agreement on June 6, now says that making a deal with the PIF "is the better end of the bargain."
He says:
"The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone (LIV… pic.twitter.com/XDZaC1I6B8
— JCAGOLFReport (@JCAGOLFReport) May 10, 2024
Chamblee said:
“The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone (LIV Golf) who’s not gonna go away, who can outspend you (PIF)…
“Every move they make that makes their Tour better deletes your Tour and causes more division within the Tour.
“So the time is now, to Rory’s point about making a deal, I wouldn’t have said that a year ago… but it is the better end of the bargain.”
What do you make of Chamblee’s 180 turn on all things PGA Tour and PIF? Do you think a deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s bankrollers will ever come to fruition? Share your thoughts over on the GolfMagic social media channels.
