Bryson DeChambeau said he's still in lawsuit against PGA Tour over unpaid bonus
Bryson DeChambeau is one of the few golfers left in the lawsuit with LIV Golf against the PGA Tour.
He’s still there, he confirmed on Thursday, as a matter of principle.
DeChambeau told ESPN’s Mark Schlabach ahead of LIV Golf’s season finale this week in Miami that he is still a plaintiff in the case because the Tour owes him a $1.75 million bonus.
“It’s not about the money, it’s about the principle,” he said. “It’s the way you deal with situations.”
DeChambeau earned a $3.5 million bonus as part of the Tour’s Player Impact Program in 2021. He received the first half of that on Feb. 15, but is still waiting on the second half.
He told ESPN that there were two requirements to get the bonus. The first he did by playing in a regular PGA Tour event, the Valero Texas Open, that he hasn’t played in during the last four seasons. The other part, he said, requires that he appears at a charity event.
DeChambeau said he tried to do this by appearing at a First Tee event in Dallas next month, but was told that because he’s no longer a Tour member in good standing that it won’t count.
"They said because you're not in good standing, we're not allowing you to do something to help out junior golf and junior golfers," DeChambeau said, via ESPN. "To me, that's childish. It just shows where they stand emotionally. I respect and understand it, but when you've completed something and provided entertainment for them last year, that's the reason I'm in the lawsuit."
Bubba Watson, who is also playing this week at Trump National Doral in Miami, said he too hasn’t received the second half of his PIP winnings. He finished 10th in the standings in 2021, which would have earned him a $3 million bonus.
The issue, he said, was tied to a charity event — something he insists he tried to do.
"They canceled on me a few times," Watson said, via ESPN. "I was supposed to do some things. They canceled the event, supposed to do another thing, they canceled the event. I guess if you look at it on paper, yes, I didn't fulfill my duty, but I tried to."
The Tour did not respond to ESPN.
Both Watson and DeChambeau were some of the biggest names to leave the Tour for the controversial Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf earlier this year.
DeChambeau was one of 11 golfers who joined the initial antitrust lawsuit against the Tour. Only Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein are still with him on the case.
The Tour has since filed a countersuit against LIV Golf, and a separate suit against its financial backers. A trial date is set for 2024. The Department of Justice is also investigating the Tour, Augusta National, the United States Golf Association and the PGA of America, too.
"It's really been frustrating over the last six years that I've had to deal with [the PGA Tour]," DeChambeau said, via ESPN. "It's consistently frustration after frustration of them not handling things correctly."
