Can golf’s Mad Scientist save men’s professional golf from itself?
Keep quiet, you paid LIV shill!”
That was a response to someone online who dared to suggest that 2024 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau was now a more popular figure in the game than Rory McIlroy.
Indeed, a couple of years ago had you made such an inflammatory call, you would have been marched straight out of the clubhouse, along with anyone who admitted to dipping their golf balls in Epsom salt.
Fast-forward to today and, well, the truth hurts for some.
Whatever you think of DeChambeau the golfer (booming drives, one-length clubs, arm-lock putting, physics lectures with his caddie over every shot), fair play to you. He does most things very differently – and a hell of a lot better! – than you or I.
If you think you have an accurate snapshot of DeChambeau the person, though, think again.
This magazine got front-row seats to the “new Bryson” at LIV Golf Adelaide in April when we were invited onto the range for a driving lesson. Having just arrived at Grange Golf Club from the airport after a long-haul flight from the United States, DeChambeau was only too happy to sweat out some jetlag with yours truly in front of the camera. He needed no prodding or pushing, no direction to explain things in layman’s terms for us mere mortals. Bryson just took over the video shoot and left us all in awe. It became abundantly clear why this guy has racked up more than 70 million views on his YouTube channel. He’s genuine and very personable. The best trait of all – he wants to help fans have as much fun playing the game as he does. Is there a greater lesson in golf than that?
“I want to have a relationship with fans so they can know the true me,” DeChambeau says. Quick to acknowledge personal growth, the 30-year-old says he now knows himself better, too. “I’m playing to entertain and inspire a new generation, and my mindset has shifted to where I can look into a camera and see those people.”
The very next day, DeChambeau had a friendly wager with a larrikin Aussie fan on the practice putting green. If he missed his putt, the fan could have anything he wanted of Bryson’s. Reasons unbeknown to everyone, the fan chose the socks Bryson was wearing. Of course, he missed the putt, took off his shoes and made the guy’s day.
A month later, 36 hours after shooting a thrilling Sunday 65 to finish runner-up to Xander Schauffele at the 2024 PGA Championship, DeChambeau welcomed a Golf Digest production crew into his under-construction Dallas home with enthusiasm. It was yet another reminder that he loves the camera, and these days more than ever, the camera loves him right back.
Our cover image on this issue tells you everything you need to know about the guy who once polarised folk when he labelled Augusta National “a par 67”. He meant no offence… and the scary thing is, when his game clicks, no course is safe from Bryson tearing it apart. He’s that good. Watching how he goes about
it is what has become so undeniably
box office.
A month after our cover shoot (there’s a bit of a theme here!), DeChambeau went on to win the US Open for a second time. He engaged with fans more than anyone, seemingly letting every single one of them touch the trophy during his many victory parades. Incidentally, the guy he beat – a devastated Rory McIlroy – left the premises in world-record time to much criticism.
My, how times have changed.
“He’s the greatest show on turf,” writes Evin Priest, who covers both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League for Australian Golf Digest. “Has any tour pro come out of the schism between golf’s major tours with a more improved image? Really think about that. Is any pro golfer more exciting to watch in 2024 while golf’s biggest stars, sans Scottie Scheffler, struggle to fire?”
The answer, of course, is no. DeChambeau is exactly what men’s pro golf needs as all the fighting among wealthy tour pros continues to grow tiresome. Whether it’s inside this issue or on YouTube, golf’s “Mad Scientist” has got your back!