"We just want to go play golf and I would say give the fans the best experience they could possibly have. If it's with the Super League then it's with the Super League, but I will never do anything first"
Wednesday 19 May 2021 22:04, UK
Bryson DeChambeau is wary that talk of the proposed Super League Golf will be a distraction at the PGA Championship, although he hinted he would be interested in joining the breakaway competition.
Officials for the SLG are reportedly at Kiawah Island this week and plan to have discussions with representatives for various high-profile players, with DeChambeau a certainty to be high on their list of targets.
The money involved is expected to be staggering, with the Daily Telegraph claiming earlier this month that world No 1 Dustin Johnson and Olympic champion Justin Rose among those offered in the region of $30m to take part.
DeChambeau admitted the mega-money competition raised some "interesting concepts" but he will let his management do the negotiating before even thinking about making a commitment.
But the US Open champion is also guarding against creating any resentment or controversy around his fellow professionals, in the knowledge that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has threatened players with suspension and possible expulsion if they sign up for the SLG.
"From my perspective I'm not trying to make anybody mad," DeChambeau said. "I'm not trying to make anybody side on one side. I just want the best for the players and for the fans, and whatever players do in regards to this Tour or whatnot is going to make my decision.
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"I will never commit to anything. From my perspective it's about the players looking at it in a different way, and if they want to do that, then okay. If the players go, then I'll probably follow suit. But at this point in time, it just doesn't seem like there's enough players.
"I don't know, it's such a weird conversation. And I think the players are in such a weird position, because we're just trying to do what's best for the game of golf and for the fans. I mean, we want to give the fans an amazing experience.
"But from a Super League perspective, this is stuff that's got to be dealt with in the upper management. I'm just a player trying to play golf, so I don't really have a great answer for it."
While clearly intrigued by the prospect of a breakaway circuit, DeChambeau declared that he did not want to be the first player to sign up and be seen as leading a rebellion against the PGA Tour and golf's worldwide governing bodies.
"My agent has been telling me about it, but we don't want to ruffle any feathers," he added. "We just want to go play golf and I would say give the fans the best experience they could possibly have.
"If it's with the Super League then it's with the Super League, but I will never do anything first. I will never be anybody that goes first in something like that. It's got to be the Tour coming together and saying this is better for the fan experience.
"The PGA Tour has given me an amazing opportunity, and there's a relationship there that I don't want to hurt. There's a relationship there that I have with the USGA, the PGA, Augusta and the British Open that we don't want to hurt, and it's a very difficult, weird situation I think the players are in.
"Hopefully it can all be resolved so we can just get past it and play golf and I would say enjoy giving the fans the best entertainment possible. At the end of the day there's interesting concepts, but there's not much I can do personally. I'm out here just playing golf trying to win a major championship.
"It's a complete distraction, but from my perspective, I'd want to know what way to go and just let's go, whatever it is. Whatever is best for the players and for the fans is what I would support.
"Again, I don't know all the details. I don't know everything. This is me just speaking from an outside perspective, that whatever the Tour wants to do, whatever the players want to do, I'm behind the players with whatever they want to do because as a collective group I think we do have a good understanding of what the fans do want.
"There's going to come a point in time where they'll all talk about it, but I'm not there yet. I wish I had a bigger say in things, but I don't, I just play golf."
