Bryson DeChambeau has been on a whirlwind tour of the United States in the days following his incredible U.S. Open victory at Pinehurst last Sunday, but he’s getting back to business as LIV Golf rolls into Nashville, Tennessee for the ninth of 13 individual tournaments on the schedule.
“The last three days have been wild,” he said in his pre-tournament press conference in Nashville. “Overwhelming gratitude, just a lot of thanks from everybody. The support and the care that everybody has shown me and brought to me and the love that they’ve shown me has been inspiring. It’s what keeps me going. I’ve been running on probably a cumulative total in the past three days, like maybe 12 hours of sleep, maybe.
“You guys are the reason why I keep going. It’s been fantastic.
“Just being on Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, the Pat McAfee Show and CNBC, just everything, it’s been a wild transformation, and certainly blessed.”
DeChambeau was treated to a hero’s welcome by LIV staff when he arrived at The Grove Golf Club in the Country Music capital of the world, and became slightly overwhelmed when recalling the reception.
“The support is awesome,” he said. “You know, it’s funny, everybody talks about LIV Golf and the team aspect and we have our own pods and whatnot. It’s exactly stuff like that. This isn’t just about team golf and having our own teams or doing our own things. We truly care about what we’re trying to provide for the game of golf. We’re moving. It’s moving in a really positive direction.
“Having the support of everybody there, all the staff and the volunteers, the clubhouse employees, you name it, just everybody, the support, the full-blown support, walking out of that car and raising the trophy, it’s truly for LIV and what they’ve done for me, the chance they took on me, the chance I took on you guys. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that I think has just been awesome.
“The thanks has just been out of this world. I couldn’t imagine a more awesome scenario.”
After his interactions with the fans at Pinehurst and in the two prior majors at Augusta National and Valhalla, there is little doubt that he’s become one of the most popular players in the world – something that was hard to imagine in previous years – and he’s now being dubbed ‘The People’s Champ’ by some.
“I’m humbled, very humbled by it,” he said in response.
“When I was younger, I felt like I was called to do something in the game, and getting to this point in my life where I’ve had struggled, I’ve done some things I shouldn’t have done, said some things I shouldn’t have said and messing up and learning from those mistakes and learning patience, resilience, determination, continuing to grow in that capacity and then getting to a place where I finally get to showcase my true self and show others what this great game means to me, it’s given me so much. It’s time for me to give back.
“That’s what I love most. That’s why this was so important for everyone to touch the trophy. I wanted everybody to experience it because it wasn’t just for me, it was for the turnaround, everyone looking at me going, wow, that person is different than what I thought. It was for them, those people that saw who I now am, who I am. That’s what I wanted people to feel is that involvement, that appreciation from me saying thank you. It meant a lot.”
Despite being a major champion and now the number 10 ranked golfer in the world with just 12 events counting – the points accrued are divided by 40, and all of the nine ahead of him have at least 40 counting events – he won’t be part of the United States’ Olympic Games squad.
“Well, it’s funny because in 2020 I was on the team [for the Games held in 2021],” he said. “I got COVID the week before, and I couldn’t go to the Olympics. That was frustrating. I have always loved representing Team USA, whether it’s been the world team amateur, the Walker Cup, Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup. It’s been some of the greatest moments of my life. Anytime you get a chance to represent your country, I’m all for it.
“Not being able to go in 2020 was unfortunate for sure. It was very disappointing. But I got sick, and we took the precautions and made the right decisions, and I got healthy from it, I recovered, I got my smell back. It’s all good. But that’s done.
“This time around, it’s disappointing, but I understand the decisions I made, and the way things have played out has not been necessarily perfectly according to plan. I’ve done my best up until now to give myself a chance according to the OWGR, but I realize and respect where the current situation of the game is, albeit it’s frustrating and disappointing. Hopefully 2028 will be a little different situation, and it will make it that much sweeter.”
A well publicised equipment nerd, his 3D-printed prototype irons are not yet available for the regular punter to get hold of, but he did suggest that that’s going to change in the future.
“They’re one of one right now,” he explained, “and we’re working on building a set for the mass consumers, but it takes a little bit of time to get everything in production in the right way. You’re going to see some pretty interesting stuff coming out here soon within the next month with a driver that could be pretty unique for the market, and it’ll help a lot of golfers out.”
And the good news is that you won’t need your own 3D printer either.