- The Athletic has live second-round coverage from The Open today
SOUTHPORT, England — Bryson DeChambeau is a two-time major winner, yet there was surprise from fans looking up at The Open Championship scoreboard to see him in contention as he walked down the 18th fairway to dig his ball out of long grass for an eventual bogey.
The last time the 32-year-old made the cut at a golf tournament was one year ago at The Open in Royal Portrush. Every major the LIV golfer/YouTuber has played in this year, he has failed to make it to the business end.
Even after dropping a shot on the par-5 finish, which added to his one other bogey on 14, DeChambeau ended the day 3-under-par thanks to five birdies. The 67 was his first under-par round at a major tournament this year, but he did not want to talk too much about it.
DeChambeau declined interview requests from both print and broadcast media, choosing only to answer pre-submitted questions from an Open Championship media official.
He spoke about his strategy in those comments, which felt like a pointed response to some recent criticism by Sir Nick Faldo on a Sky Sports Golf podcast that he has “zero clue of strategy.”
“I think you’ve got to be a lot more strategic out on the golf course,” DeChambeau said. “I feel like I did a really good job today of being incredibly strategic and focused super hard on placing it in the right places.
“Besides 18, I placed the ball in some good areas. I just need to hit more fairways. Other than that, I feel like my strategy was nice today.”
After DeChambeau’s round, Faldo, speaking live on Sky Sports, said he must have “rattled his cage” with his no strategy comment. “He’s basically stuck you know what up and said: ‘Faldo, I do have strategy.’ I’m taking claim that I switched on the strategy play,” Faldo said. “You have got to have that around here.”
While DeChambeau chose not to speak to the journalists assembled in the mixed zone, he did chat away to fans who waited more than an hour for his signature behind a picket fence near the putting green. DeChambeau, who had his caddie lying on the ground to film how he was putting the ball, signed autographs and smiled for selfies.
He gave one fan advice on how to hit the ball further. “I would say do a lot of wrist strength exercises, get your grip stronger,” DeChambeau said. He said thanks when a young supporter told him he was his favorite player in the world and apologized for not having a golf ball to give him. DeChambeau then asked whether the young fan had watched the latest video posted to his YouTube channel, which has 2.7 million subscribers. The youngster told him he’s not allowed on YouTube.
Bryson makes time for fans
Caoimhe O’Neill
Nick Clement was one of the fans who got his yellow 154th Open Championship flag signed by DeChambeau. He also got a fist bump after being one of the patient fans who waited for a brief moment with DeChambeau. The 19-year-old from Milwaukee, Wisc., is on a dream trip to the United Kingdom gifted to him by his grandparents after graduating high school.
It seems DeChambeau is trying to build on his strategy for Day 2. After all that time working on his putting, he made his way over to the driving range. Spending a day in the company of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler made DeChambeau want to straighten out his own driving, he said.
Asked if it is a surprise to see DeChambeau doing so well on this links course in the north west of England, Tyrrell Hatton, who was in the same group as the Englishman and Scheffler, said it shouldn’t surprise anyone.
“His ball flight today was really good. He didn’t really hit many bad shots,” Hatton, who shot 1-under-par, said. “He’s an amazing player and it shouldn’t really surprise anyone that he’s doing well.”
DeChambeau made 14 bogeys or worse in the opening round of the first three majors this season, so just two on Thursday represents real progress and gives him very good odds of avoiding another missed cut. Per The Athletic contributor Justin Ray, the last time a player with multiple major championship victories played all four majors in a season and missed the cut each time was in 1998, when both Tom Watson (then 48 years old) and Ben Crenshaw (46) each did it.
