SOUTHPORT, England — There was a time, not long ago, when Bryson DeChambeau looked like he was about to take over the golf world.
He won the 2024 U.S. Open, his second victory in the national open, and was at the top of his game.
This year with LIV Golf, he has two wins and three third-place finishes. And, of course, his YouTube brand is booming.
But DeChambeau has appeared lost in the major championships in 2026, having missed the cut at the Masters, PGA and U.S. Open entering this week’s British Open.
Another missed cut at Birkdale and he’ll be oh-fer for 2026.
The good news is DeChambeau finished 10th at last year’s British Open (though he opened with a 78) after a tie for fifth at the 2025 Masters and a tie for second at the PGA.
DeChambeau consistently declined interview requests last month at Shinnecock and hasn’t been quoted about his form this week.
He has, however, drawn outside criticism from the likes of former multiple Open winner Nick Faldo, who told Sky Sports that DeChambeau “has zero clue of strategy,” adding, “He said it last year, I think on TV — ‘I’m going to go out there and attack the links.’ Well, I’ve never attacked a links, you thread it, don’t you?”
“You don’t think: ‘I’ll just bomb it down there, can’t see where I’m going, it’s 20-yards wide.’ Oh yeah, good luck.”
A fun topic of conversation among some players this week is where they keep their most prized trophies.
Scottie Scheffler, the defending Open champion who’s had the Claret Jug for the past year; Aaron Rai, the reigning PGA champion; and Wyndham Clark, who won the U.S. Open last month at Shinnecock, offered varying answers.
“I have a room in my house where I keep some trophies,’’ Scheffler said. “I call it the golf room. It has all my crap. It has some stuff I can work on my clubs with and trophies and some pictures and whatnot.”
“Right now it’s a bit of a mess, to be honest with you. It doesn’t really look presentable. For instance, if you were to interview me at my house, I’d have to do some serious cleanup in the golf room because I’m a bit embarrassed at how it looks.’’
He said the Claret Jug, which he had to return this week, was “kind of sitting in the corner next to the Wanamaker,’’ which he won as the 2025 PGA champion.
“Every now and then when I’m in there working I kind of take a peek,’’ Scheffler said.
Clark is in the process of building a house and doesn’t have a man cave or trophy room yet.
“I live in a condo, and they’re all basically on my dining table,’’ he said of his trophies. “I am in the process of building a home, and there’s going to be an office where there’ll be some trophies.’’
Rai said the Wanamaker Trophy is at his father’s house, saying, “We’re not planning on having a trophy room at my house. For me and my wife, it felt like it was fitting, and it was the right place for it to be at my dad’s house — at the family house, really.’’
No English player has won the British Open at an English Open venue since Tony Jacklin in 1969. Rai, who is English, was asked what sort of pressure that puts on the 21 English players in the field this week.
“There’s always pressure every single week no matter what tournament it is,’’ he said. “I think most of that is self-imposed. Obviously, this is a major championship. It’s a huge event in its own right. So there’s always that element of pressure that is there. I try not to view it too differently to most weeks.’’
