Brandel Chamblee: LIV Golf ‘heightened’ Saudi Arabia’s atrocities

With LIV Golf now appearing to only exist on life support, Brandel Chamblee is one of the many PGA Tour supporters able to say he saw this coming.

It’s no secret that LIV Golf’s funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will run out at the conclusion of the 2026 season. And unless they quickly find a new financial backer who is willing to lose billions of dollars on the league, LIV Golf appears to be on the brink of death.

Chamblee joined The Dan Patrick Show this week to discuss LIV’s future. And during his appearance, the longtime golf analyst and vocal LIV critic was asked whether the Saudi-backed tour accomplished its goals.

“No, I think the opposite would be the case,” Chamblee answered. “They were trying to use golf to launder their reputation. To sort of hide their atrocities, if you will. And I think it just further highlighted them.

“I think everybody in the golf industry knew the Saudi’s didn’t care about golf. They were using golf as a vehicle to launder their atrocities. And because it came right on the heels of the murder and butchering of Jamal Khashoggi, it was really fresh in everybody’s mind. And it wasn’t hard to connect those dots.”

The emergence of LIV Golf succeeded in bringing change to the PGA Tour. Prior to LIV, golfers were being severely underpaid by the PGA. And after losing prominent golfers to LIV, the PGA has adjusted that pay scale and improved their business model. The PGA is also expected to alter their schedule with a focus on elevated events and consistent field size.

But in terms of serving as a vehicle to help sportswash Saudi Arabia’s history of human rights abuses, LIV Golf failed to accomplish that. Golfers that left the PGA for nine-figure contracts from LIV were accused taking blood money. And LIV always seemed to have more critics pointing to the Saudi’s negative reputation than it did supporters who truly enjoyed the product. As LIV continued to lose a staggering amount of money, the Saudis eventually determined there were better ways of achieving their goals.