The people in charge of LIV Golf must be counting down the hours until this truly dark week for the Saudi league ends. It all began with the news that the PIF will stop funding the tour at the end of 2026, was followed by significant organisational problems at the Mexico tournament, including power cuts, and is now capped off by the absence of Bryson DeChambeau on the final day of the tournament.
The two-time US Open champion did not play the final round of the LIV Golf Mexico City this Sunday. The American withdrew before the final round due to a wrist injury, he announced on his social media after feeling discomfort during Saturday’s round. The setback comes at an especially delicate moment for the leader of Crushers GC, just a few weeks before the PGA Championship and after a very poor performance at the Masters that left him outside the cut.
“It wasn’t how I wanted this week to end, but I wish the Crushers a great finish”, DeChambeau said in his message, in which he also explained he will take a few days to undergo tests and is confident he will be back for LIV Golf Virginia, scheduled from 7 to 10 May, just the week before the second major of the season. Obviously, injuries always come at a bad time, but the timing this time couldn’t be worse, amid growing doubts about the future of LIV Golf and with his renewal still pending on the table.
Bryson’s withdrawal adds even more noise to an already very uncomfortable week for him in Chapultepec. Not only because of the result, far from the lead, but also because of his visible anger at the condition of the course. From the first round he strongly criticised the conditions of the Mexican layout, especially the grass and some areas around the greens. His complaints, very explicit, again painted an image of enormous frustration. It was also not the first time this had happened in this tournament. Back in 2025 he had strongly criticised the course’s bunkers, to the point of claiming they could “break his wrist”.
Ironically, it is precisely a discomfort in that area that has now forced him to put the brakes on. Competitively, his tournament had been very modest. He was in the lower part of the leaderboard, at +2 after the first three rounds, with no real chance of fighting for the win.
The timing does not exactly inspire optimism either. DeChambeau was coming off a frustrating week in Augusta, where he missed the Masters cut after a triple bogey at the 18th hole in the second round. Mexico was supposed to serve as an immediate response, but it has ended up becoming another unfortunate episode for one of the big names on the Saudi circuit.
In the team competition, Luis Carrera will take his place this Sunday. It will be the Mexican’s first round in LIV Golf, an unexpected opportunity caused by the withdrawal of one of the championship’s big stars.
The big question now is the true extent of the injury. Bryson has sent a reassuring message and is targeting Virginia as his immediate goal, but any wrist problem, however small, inevitably sets off alarm bells for a player whose golf depends so much on speed, power and aggression off the tee.
