LIV Golf’s issue is now impossible to ignore after Bryson DeChambeau’s pre-Open comments

LIV players had a quiet major season, and The Open Championship didn’t do much to change that.

Bryson DeChambeau’s performance at Augusta and Jon Rahm’s particular duel with Scottie Scheffler during the PGA Championship final round are good examples of moments when it appeared that LIV golfers were going to break through.

Elsewhere, Tyrrell Hatton was in contention late on at the US Open and had a very good week at Royal Portrush.

And DeChambeau did well to climb back into contention after an opening 78 had him staring at a missed cut.

That slow start, along with LIV’s limited presence near the top of the leaderboard, highlighted some of his earlier comments in the week.

The Crushers captain spoke about LIV not holding an event on a links course ahead of The Open. He admitted it’s something that needs fixing.

“I think playing a links-style golf course is what we need to do,” he said. “There are some hindrances to that currently that I think is pretty public. I don’t know if it is necessarily, but it’s difficult to play links golf courses currently under what’s going on.

“I think at some point we’ll be able to do that in the next few years. Until then, we’re just going to have to ride it out, but we definitely want to. We’ve thought about that from the inception of it. Getting it onto a links golf course has been nearly impossible.”

Links golf demands specific tests, and LIV should be aware of this

It is worth noting that LIV playing at Valderrama just before The Open isn’t the reason none of their players have won a major this year. Valderrama is a tough course, and there’s an argument to be made that it’s a great way to get ready for a major.

But links golf presents a completely different kind of challenge.

You have to wonder if Scottie Scheffler would have been quite as good at Royal Portrush had he not had a tricky week at the Genesis Scottish Open the week before.

A lot of players actually felt that the Scottish Open was perfect preparation for The Open, giving them tournament conditions on a links course just days before heading to Royal Portrush.