Bryson DeChambeau knows exactly what he is doing.

The athlete with as much leverage as any, perhaps worldwide, and certainly enough to make Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund skim from its war chest of more than $1 trillion in assets, is making sure the world and LIV Golf, which is controlled by PIF, are aware.

Which is why DeChambeau posted a cryptic message of him standing by an “EXIT” sign shrugging his shoulders with his palms open and the words, “What would you do?”

A direct message and one very intentionally timed for the day after Brooks Koepka ended his more than three-year relationship with LIV and returned to the PGA Tour.

And his recent comments to Flushing It about LIV Golf that “things have got to change, things have got to improve,” is DeChambeau not messing around in leveraging his enormous cult-like popularity.

Messages directly aimed at LIV CEO Scott O’Neil and PIF pontiff Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Can Bryson DeChambeau command $500 million from LIV?

Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is widely considered the highest paid athlete in the world with estimated earnings in excess of $250 million a year from his contract with his Saudi — yes, Saudi — soccer club Al Nassr.

Now, DeChambeau is clearly putting out the message he wants some of that PIF chump change.

LIV has no other choice but to downplay losing Koepka, the five-time major champion from Jupiter who from the start never fully bought into the LIV life. O’Neil and his executives did not let the departure of one of his few needle-movers dampen the mood as they spoke this week about the 2026 season, which starts Feb. 4 in Riyadh, the capitol of, yep, Saudi Arabia.

LIV will exist as long as PIF continues to be OK with this business model, which has lost money from the start. LIV has dropped a reported $1.4 billion in its four seasons. But what is a billion to a sovereign wealth fund worth more than 1,000 times that?

Part of the reason the Saudi’s made this investment in former LIV CEO Greg Norman’s desire to start a rival league to the PGA Tour was for Al-Rumayyan to join golf’s eco-system. LIV has wanted a seat at the table ever since the league and PGA Tour started negotiating in an attempt to unite. But those talks have stalled with the PGA Tour holding all the leverage.

LIV’s no-cut, 54 hole, team concept (LIV is going to 72 holes this year) never caught on in the U.S. That is why we are seeing more international events and executives starting to push LIV as the “world golf league,” which may be the recipe for LIV’s survival.

Still, LIV had a role the PGA Tour making significant changes. The Tour took notice when LIV poached its elite players with nine-figure contracts, and was forced to react. LIV is directly responsible for the infusion of money into the pockets of PGA Tour players through increased purses and the former Player Impact Program, which led to the Player Equity Program.

LIV could be at crossroads if Koepka’s exit leads to more defections

LIV’s stars have pledged their loyalty for 2026. But the league could be at a crossroads after this season if Koepka’s decision to leave leads to more defections.

Which leads us to DeChambeau. And to understand the value of DeChambeau to LIV, here are the words of O’Neil from LIV media days at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.

“I think he’s the biggest star in the game of golf. He’s an elite human being. He’s talented. He’s wonderful. He’s a social media darling. You go from Augusta to Adelaide and people, fans are losing their minds. He is a guy who kids actually adore and love. He gets the vision. He gets the mission. He’s a true businessman.

“This is a generational talent. And I don’t mean golfer. I mean, he’s a generational talent in terms of an athlete. And I’ve told him that privately, and I’ll say it publicly. He is a really, really special human being and talent. And everything he stands for is good about the game and good about this next generation of golf. And I expect him to be at LIV for a very long time.”

DeChambeau’s initial LIV contract, which paid him a reported $125 million, expires after this season. Losing Koepka was a blow. Losing the 32-year-old DeChambeau would be a gut punch only George Foreman could deliver.

O’Neil, who also could represent DeChambeau after that endorsement, is right about DeChambeau when it comes to his value to LIV. DeChambeau has emerged as golf’s — not just LIV’s — biggest social media savant and major influencer. He surpassed Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm and all others by miles when it comes to bringing attention to LIV Golf.

And while the LIV plan was not to pay these massive contracts the second time around, DeChambeau knows exactly what he is doing … and what he is worth to LIV.

Ronaldo, you’re about to have some company. It may not be $250 million a year, but DeChambeau needs to double that and start there when negotiating his next deal with LIV.

After all, what’s $500 million to PIF?

Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Bryson DeChambeau has all the leverage over LIV, perhaps $500 million?