Bryson DeChambeau Calls Out Tiger Woods for Team Golf Showdown

Bryson DeChambeau is never short on big ideas, and this time he’s set his sights on one of the most iconic names in golf: Tiger Woods. Just days before LIV Golf’s much-anticipated inaugural tournament in South Africa, DeChambeau took center stage at the Crushers GC pre-tournament press conference and issued a public challenge to Woods and his Jupiter Links team from TGL. The two-time US Open champion is advocating for a made-for-TV, 18-hole, four-on-four grudge match between his LIV Crushers and Tiger’s TGL squad—a showdown he believes could catapult team golf into the sporting mainstream.

“Imagine a scenario where we’re going up against Jupiter Links on an 18-hole showcase, four man/four man, going up against each other on a Netflix show or something, or whoever wants to put it on a show,” DeChambeau proposed, his enthusiasm palpable as he spoke to reporters in South Africa. The Crushers captain, who’s turned his franchise into the most commercially viable in LIV thanks to a savvy YouTube presence, is convinced that team golf is the next big thing. “I do think there’s an opportunity in the future for team golf to be next to the forefront of golf, even with the majors and whatnot. I do think at some point we can get close. It’ll never be a major, obviously, but having team golf rivalries, whether it’s just the Crushers versus Southern Guards or whatnot, is great.”

The idea isn’t just hot air. DeChambeau’s vision comes at a time when golf’s biggest stakeholders are looking for ways to attract new fans and grow the sport’s audience. While traditional team events like the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup have their place, they haven’t quite captured the mass appeal that individual stroke-play events enjoy. “Only about two million people play football, but there are over 50 million that watch every week. In golf, it’s almost the opposite, where you’re getting three to five million people watching a week on various tours, and you can add it together, and those aren’t the perfect numbers, but you know what I mean. Then there are probably 50 to 60 million people playing the game,” DeChambeau explained, highlighting the unique challenge golf faces in building a spectator base.

DeChambeau’s solution? Lean into the drama, the personalities, and the existing rivalries that have always simmered just below the surface of the sport. “There’s always been rivalries, like Brooks and I and even Rory [McIlroy] and I,” he said, referencing his much-publicized history with Brooks Koepka and his more recent exhibition matches involving PGA Tour stars. “But what I’m saying is we’re all competitive. One way to do that, since there’s already internal built-up rivalries in the game right now, whether it’s the PGA [Tour] or LIV or TGL and LIV, let’s give the fans what they want. It’s time. It’s been too long.”

It’s a compelling pitch, especially considering the timing. The TGL finale is set for next week, but as DeChambeau candidly noted, it won’t draw anywhere near the audience of the 2026 Masters in April. Team golf, he argues, needs a spark—a showcase event that could bring in not just the diehards, but also the casual sports fans who tune in for the NFL’s Super Bowl spectacle. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity for teams to go up against teams in the future that could be a big growing-the-game moment for people who have never played the game, watching and just tuning in. Maybe they don’t ever play the game, but they tune in, just like football,” he said.

The proposed format is simple but tantalizing: Crushers versus Jupiter Links, 18 holes, four players a side, stroke play, and all of it streamed for a global audience—perhaps even on Netflix. “How about the Crushers goes up against Jupiter Links in an 18-hole match, 4-v-4 stroke play. We can just call them out right now and say let’s go. Let’s do it,” DeChambeau declared, not shying away from the challenge. “That would be fun. Show them who’s the best, who’s the best team in the world, or any of them. LA, it doesn’t matter. We’d go up against them. Jon Rahm’s team, we’d all go up against them. How great would that be for golf, too, by the way?”

It’s a bold vision, but one that’s rooted in DeChambeau’s genuine belief in the entertainment value of team rivalries. His Crushers team, currently ranked seventh in the LIV team standings, has already demonstrated the commercial potential of the format, especially as DeChambeau has leveraged his digital following to build a dedicated fanbase. Still, he’s quick to acknowledge that golf’s DNA is fundamentally individualistic. “I guess we’re an individual sport; I understand that. But we do play team events. We’ve got the Ryder Cup. We’ve got the Presidents Cup. There should be something else. Why not?”

DeChambeau’s challenge isn’t without precedent. Golf has dabbled in made-for-TV exhibitions before—think “The Match” series, where DeChambeau squared off against Koepka, or the 2024 crossover that pitted LIV and PGA Tour stars against each other. But there’s a sense that these events have only scratched the surface of what’s possible. DeChambeau is pushing for something bigger, something that could redefine how fans engage with the sport. “I think there’s an opportunity for the world to see the game for what it could be, which is rivalries and teams against teams,” he said.

For now, the ball is in Tiger Woods’ court. Woods, who recently teased a possible return for the Masters, has yet to respond publicly to DeChambeau’s challenge. But the prospect of a Crushers versus Jupiter Links showdown—pitting two of the sport’s biggest personalities and their handpicked teams against each other in a winner-takes-all spectacle—has already set tongues wagging across the golf world.

As the LIV Golf event in South Africa gets underway and the TGL finale looms, all eyes are on whether this bold proposal will move from fantasy to fairway. One thing’s for sure: DeChambeau has thrown down the gauntlet, and the future of team golf just got a whole lot more interesting.