Was that really Brandel Chamblee on the Golf Channel Thursday voicing tentative support for LIV Golf?

Golf fans have been trying to make sense of it all since the outspoken analyst’s comments. Chamblee has been arguably the Saudi-backed venture’s biggest critic. He once called the LIV-PGA Tour merger one of the “saddest days in the history of professional golf,” and he’s been criticized for allegedly being biased against LIV-affiliated golfers. He even bashed LIV ratings last year, likening the sport to the “witness protection of sports viewership.”

So yes, golf fans were stunned by Chamblee’s comments Thursday about LIV during the WM Phoenix Open. The Golf Channel broadcast showed a statement from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and player directors Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, about a meeting Tuesday with President Donald Trump.

“We asked the President to get involved for the good of the game, the good of the country, and for all the countries involved,” the statement read. “We are grateful that his leadership has brought us closer to a final deal, paving the way for reunification of men’s professional golf.”

Whether President Trump’s intervention in the PGA Tour’s talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns LIV, will help end the rift in pro golf remains to be seen, but the author of Trump: The Art of the Deal can be persuasive. Just look at how he changed Chamblee after the two played a round of golf.

“Look, I felt like it (Trump’s involvement) was inevitable after the election,” Chamblee said. “I had the pleasure of playing with President Trump last year, and almost after every single hole, when we would putt out, he would want to come over and talk to me about LIV Golf, about Saudis involvement in the game of golf. He was so magnanimous about our differences, at one point he said, ‘Look, I know you and I differ on this opinion, but hear me out.’ He said Yasir [Al-Rumayyan, LIV Golf chairman] loves golf more than you do and more than I do. Now, that’s hard to believe because President Trump plays a lot of golf and I’m crazy about it. But he was serious.

“They have $32 trillion worth of oil underneath that sand, and they really have to diversity their economy. He said they are all-in on this and they’re not going anywhere. As the round progressed, he would want to talk almost every hole about LIV, about the Saudi involvement and how excited he was for it.”

Apparently, Trump eventually wore down Chamblee’s resistance.

“Geopolitical issues aside, of course I understand why we acquiesce and need Saudi Arabia as a partner in the Middle East,” Chamblee said. “My issues were about the human rights concerns and about how golf was going to have to at some point apologize for some issue. And he was like, ‘Just look farther into the future. It’s going to be good for Saudi Arabia, it’s going to be good for the PGA Tour, it’s going to be good for LIV.’”

While Chamblee says President Trump did give him a new perspective on the issue, he’s still not totally sold.

“At the end of the day, did I agree with him? No,” Chamblee said. “But I’ve gotta say, he made strong points all day long. He was, I wouldn’t say adamant about it, but he was as opinionated on one side of it as I was. I was happy to listen to him … and at the end of it, I will say that he did change my mind. He made me think of Yasir as a partner in the game of golf …”

Many critics of LIV’s involvement in the sport paint it as a way for the Saudis to “sportswash” the country’s human rights violations. And it’s not like those are years-old concerns; Chamblee himself labeled the Saudis a “murderous regime” just a few days ago.

Just 5 days ago, Brandel said LIV was funded by a “murderous regime” in a post about Phil Mickelson. This is an absolutely wild reversal! pic.twitter.com/97eQRJbwcM

— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) February 7, 2025

Some fans ripped Chamblee on social media for seemingly changing his mind. Others disagreed, saying he had not changed his stance. And a few applauded him for sharing those thoughts during the broadcast.

Although haters come out en masse to blast him, Brandel handled himself with class, like few. Wouldn’t it be more fruitful to handle his change of thinking with grace, rather than self righteousness? Good on him for admitting openness to resolution! Most aren’t willing to due to…

— Scott Kurtz (@cskurtz) February 7, 2025