In June 2022, Bryson DeChambeau signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with the LIV Golf League for a reported $125 million. Just a few months earlier, in February, 'The Scientist' had released a statement insisting that he was staying on the PGA Tour and was looking forward to returning from injury.
It read: “While there has been a lot of speculation surrounding my support for another Tour, I want to make it very clear that as long as the best players in the world are playing the PGA Tour, so am I. As of now, I am focused on getting myself healthy and competing again soon. I appreciate all the support."
Yet, evidently his mind was changed, and the 2020 US Open champion ended up switching allegiances. Why? The eight-time PGA Tour winner shared ahead of The Masters this week that he felt compelled to in order to look after his family - and protect himself from punishment via his mom.
DeChambeau said: "People can say I moved to one side, but I did it for my family and what I had in front of me at that point in time. I think my mom would have probably smacked me for not taking the deal."
DeChambeau was far from the only high-ranking PGA Tour golfer to move across to the 54-hole league, with the likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Jon Rahm travelling the same road.
As a result of Rahm's move to LIV Golf in particular, negotiations between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and LIV's backers - the Saudi PIF - have been expedited with fans around the world becoming increasingly fed up with the split at the top of the men's game.
While talks between the respective chairmen and board members continue, DeChambeau was asked what the players can possibly do to help speed up a resolution.
He said: "Continue to talk to players on both sides, just show that there is a mutually beneficial ground, a peace that I hope a lot of people can start to see.
"I've had visions of this for quite a long time. You can't publicly say them, unfortunately, because you get scrutinized and criticized and everybody throws things in certain ways to give you curve balls.
"I want to be very careful and cautious because I don't know what the future of golf fully looks like, and I'm just a bystander trying to play some golf and trying to help advocate for the fans to win again. They need to win.
"Everybody has their own prerogatives and wishes and wants, and the only thing I wish is that we can all see eye to eye on some things and that we can come back to some level playing field where we can all have some fun together."
One of the key factors behind both sides pushing for some kind of unity relates to the top players playing against each other far more often. For the first time since last summer's Open Championship, the next few days will present that scenario at The Masters.
DeChambeau - who is among the top names in terms of The Masters betting odds - does not believe a first active LIV winner will change anything in terms of the negotiations but is pulling for one of the 12 other LIV Golfers in the Masters field if the 30-year-old cannot clinch a victory himself.
He said: "I think the negotiations are going on with or without a win. I think if a LIV player were to win, including myself, I think we'd all be extremely excited and happy for whoever that individual is.
"I'm not so sure for the other side, but that's for them to make up their own emotional state I guess you could say. From a negotiation standpoint, I don't think it'll change much to be honest with you."
