Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson comments hurt Saudi-backed super league

Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and, indirectly, Phil Mickelson have made life a whole lot easier for the man who runs the planet's biggest golf circuit.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is due to address players in a meeting at this week's Honda Classic in Florida. He will walk into the room with a jauntier stride than he might have anticipated only a week ago.

Back then a Saudi Arabia-funded breakaway super league appeared a strong prospect. Rumours abounded that around 20 top players had been signed up.

Fronted by former world number one Greg Norman, LIV Golf Investments were on the verge of announcing a Formula One style circuit, potentially during the week of next month's Players Championship — the PGA Tour's flagship event. Ouch.

Monahan was due to remind his golfers that they faced lifetime bans if they defected to the lucrative setup backed by Saudi Arabia's vast Public Investment Fund (PIF).

But now, as Rory McIlroy pointed out, the proposed Super Golf League seems «dead in the water».

Johnson, who was thought to be a close ally of the Kingdom, having accepted huge appearance fees to play in all four Saudi International events to date — winning two of them — has now given unequivocal backing to the PGA Tour.

Indeed, it was not insignificant that he chose to release this message through the tour's social media channels.

DeChambeau was thought to be the big hitter around whom the super league would be built. It was reported he had been offered in excess of $100m (£73.5m) to be the face of the project, a figure he denied.

And DeChambeau ultimately followed DJ's lead, saying he is staying put on the US circuit for as long as other leading players remain there.

These were significant and dramatic moves last Sunday. They