It’s been a struggle of late for Bryson DeChambeau on the golf course as he tries to find the once stellar form that made him a behemoth on the PGA Tour. Since jumping to the LIV Golf League last summer, the former U.S. Open champion has played in 10 individual events but finished no better than his T-8 at the Open Championship. In three starts so far in 2023, he has missed a cut (Saudi International), posted a T-24 (LIV Mayakoba) and a T-44 (LIV Tucson); in the last two there were only 48 players in the field.
Meanwhile, he’s also seen his World Ranking tumble (like many other LIV converts) more than 100 spots to 146th.
Given the $125 million guaranteed contract he signed to jump to the upstart Saudi-backed circuit, sympathy is not something the 29-year-old is bound to get a lot of. And yet his poor form did cause one unlikely tour pro to come to his defense.
A viral tweet from Monday Q Info found its way to Eddie Pepperell, who called Bryson’s descent “sad.” Pepperell went on to reply to fellow DP World Tour pro Mike Lorenzo-Vera and said that DeChambeau “is different and a great player who’s made some odd (bad, probably) decisions.”
DeChambeau is still trying bounce back from the hand injury and subsequent surgery sidelined him the early part of last year. He also sadly lost his father in November, posting the following Instagram, ending the caption with “Life is short. Take every moment you can with your family and say I love you.”
DeChambeau is still set to play in the upcoming LIV Golf Orlando event at Orange County National and, of course, the Masters in early April. Augusta National was always seen as a course that sets up well for his power game. However, his best performance at the major is a T-21 from 2016, when he competed as an amateur.