Golf’s most complex character on life as a LIV golfer, working with Aussie icon Greg Norman, the operation that’s changed his life, and why Adelaide doesn’t know what’s coming.
Bryson DeChambeau has been preoccupied with the game’s finest details since he was young. Call it a relentless pursuit of perhaps the most elusive objective in golf: repeatability. He was still a teenager when he began using single-length irons, and his determination to steam variation out of his game has become only more pathological since, a maniacal expression of an unconventional love. At 29, he’s as close to robotic as any golfer in memory, absent the Canadian single-plane guru Moe Norman, whom DeChambeau has cited as a spirit guide. He pours himself into length because who can hit the ball the farthest is such an indisputable measure. Distance is pure fact. His related obsession with numbers other than his score – like swing speed, ball speed and spin rate – is both the cause and result of his yearning for concreteness, for exactitude, for a professional life that better resembles a succession of targets reached rather than dreams fulfilled. The idea that you can hit a single dimple on a golf ball appeals to DeChambeau because what could be more absolute? The idea of relying on feel is repugnant to him because what could be more fleeting?
For all of DeChambeau’s efforts to turn golf courses into factory floors, for all of his claims of mathematical certainty, he’s coming off a strangely quiet period since winning the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational. It seems like a lifetime ago since he was bludgeoning his way to victories without fear. Since that memorable victory at Bay Hill, DeChambeau has split with his caddie, caught COVID, had a beef with countryman Brooks Koepka, missed the US Olympic golf team and endured an onslaught of criticism for his switch to LIV Golf. He did, however, help the USA win a Ryder Cup and almost pulled off the unthinkable by coming second at the 2022 Professional Long Drivers Association World Championship.
In January last year, a Zoom conference in advance of his controversial participation in the Saudi International became a surprisingly intimate confessional. He admitted he nearly walked away from the game even before his tumultuous St Jude Invitational, which included a slow-play warning during his fourth-round collapse. “It became a lot on a human being,” he said. Missing the Olympics, in particular, he said “was just a very, very sad moment in my life”.
He felt set upon by the media – after his COVID diagnosis, he was embroiled in yet more controversy, this time about his decision not to be vaccinated – and he was wounded by the ambivalence his fellow players expressed about his grander experiment, and so about him. “It’s just very disappointing to me to feel like I was just getting hammered all the time,” he said. “I was just, like, You know what? I don’t need this anymore.”
Fast forward to February 2023 and DeChambeau is a re-energised version of his former self. Preparing to visit Australia for the first time since the 2019 Presidents Cup, the big-hitting American is excited about April’s inaugural LIV Golf Adelaide event at Grange Golf Club.
In an exclusive sit-down interview, DeChambeau opens up about his connection with Aussie icon and LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman, dealing with the haters, his grand plans for Down Under, and the operation he says has him feeling like that plucky teenager all over again. – written with Chris Jones
Australian Golf Digest: Australia and Bryson DeChambeau need no introduction, do they?
Bryson DeChambeau: [Laughs] No, I love Australia, first and foremost. I played in the Australian Masters and the Australian Open and a few other tournaments as an amateur… and obviously the Presidents Cup too. I’m super excited to be going back in April. I love the place and think the people are amazing. I love the food and I find the Aussie culture really fun. And I’m sure Aussies are excited to have an event (LIV Golf Adelaide) of this calibre coming to Australia. It’s the first time in a while. COVID was a big problem for a lot of people but I’m glad we’re starting to move past that. We’re now able to get some entertainment back to the people out there in Australia and that’s what I’m excited to be a part of.
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The reaction to the LIV Golf Adelaide announcement seems to have been a lot more positive than in other regions around the world. Has that surprised you?
Well, I hope that everybody can view it in a positive light, because LIV Golf is doing something different and obviously shaking up the market a bit and I hope people can actually respect that because with any type of competition comes improvement. That’s what I hope people can understand. Some people may not like it and I get it, but over the course of time, you’ll start to see that there are markets that have been starved and need golf. They thrive off it and they need it and that’s what we’re going to be providing for them. It’s entertainment that they’ve wanted to see for a long time.
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Greg Norman has obviously been an iconic figure in our sport for decades. What was your first take on him and how have you found him as CEO and commissioner of the tour?
So, funnily enough, when I first signed with Cobra Puma Golf, he was heavily involved and talking to me about what the company stood for, what they mean. Cobra Puma Golf has been a huge asset of mine over the past five, six years now and they’re like family to me. I don’t know what the future holds, obviously, with the market the way it is right now – it’s one of those things you never know what’s going to happen – but I will say that Greg had a huge hand in that, and I can’t thank him enough and he’s always been straightforward and honest to me. I know he gets a bad rap, but I have not had any bad interactions with him. And that’s the frustrating part, when you hear someone that is like, Oh, he’s this way or that way. And I’m like, Well, I haven’t had that experience at all. It’s kind of interesting to hear and it’s like, Why? Is there an incentive structure behind what’s actually going on? Nobody’s perfect. You’ve got to realise that – obviously nobody’s perfect. But Greg has been trying to grow the game for a long, long time as well. On the other side of the coin has been: we’re all trying to grow the game. If people can look at it from that perspective, I think that we’ll be a lot more at ease. Lower the weapons, and let’s go grow the game. Let’s go do the right thing. So I think, from my perspective, that’s what Greg’s perspective has been with all the times I’ve talked to him. He’s been right up front and honest and I haven’t had any issues with him, whatsoever.
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There are a few similarities between you two, right? You both haven’t always marched to the same beat as everyone else.
Look, I’ll say this: nobody owns the game of golf and Greg and I have talked about that deeply and I think that as time goes on, we want the game of golf to win, not any particular organisation. We want the game of golf to win. And this organisation (LIV) is going to help be a part of that winning aspect of the game of golf, in total. Some people may not agree with it. We’ve always had a different type of train of thought and that’s OK. People can disagree with our positions and that’s fine, but I would love to have a conversation with anyone and everyone that thinks anything opposite. I’m totally willing to have a conversation and a proper discourse. That’s the art of compromise, right? That’s what our world should be doing and we struggle to do that nowadays and I think it’s very frustrating and disappointing that it doesn’t happen more often like it used to in the past. Needless to say, Greg and I think very similarly on a lot of different things and I have a lot of respect for him for putting himself out there because he has taken a lot of bullets this past year that he didn’t need to take and he did. He did for all of us.
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How has Greg handled that criticism, in your eyes?
I certainly don’t know if I could have handled all of the abuse. I get quite a bit of abuse as well, as you probably know, but I’ll say that Greg’s definitely been upright in a lot of it. And it’s frustrating when people that have helped and been an integral part of transforming the game, like Greg Norman, for people to then go bash him, it’s like, Guys, what are you doing?
It’s like I said, nobody’s perfect. I’m sure Rory [McIlroy] has done as bad at times. I’m sure JT’s (Justin Thomas) has done some bad things. He’s done great things as well, like his work with junior golf. Tiger [Woods], for example, hasn’t been perfect his whole life, but I still respect him, his game, and everything he’s done for the game of golf. So, there’s nothing but respect there, but I would say it’s frustrating that people take shots at others. For what reason? For what reason? Because you have an incentive structure that’s financially incentivising to you on your end of the coin and that’s why you’re doing that? [If not], what’s the reason? I sometimes ask the tough questions and there’s no response because they’re afraid to answer and take the skeletons out of the closet. I know what’s in the closets. I just can’t probably say. It’s just one of those things – it’s so frustrating when you see an incentivised structure. That’s wrong. And we try to change it for the better and we just get absolutely bombarded and blasted. It’s not fair to the golfers worldwide. It’s not fair to the entertainers worldwide, and it’s one that we’re fighting for.
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You’ve copped backlash your entire career because you’ve chosen to do things differently. What are your coping mechanisms?
It’s knowing that, in the end, I am doing this with the right intentions to help grow the game. And not necessarily just grow the game but impact the game in a positive light. People may not agree with that. I understand and I respect it. I will always say that, but let’s have a conversation about how we can improve this. That’s my coping mechanisms that I’m OK with. I’m always willing to have the conversation. I also don’t look at these things as a very singular approach. I look at it as a huge, macroscopic approach of: how does this affect everyone? What all comes about as a result of my actions and what not? And I think the most important thing is looking at it from the perspective of: how can I do my best for everybody else? Yes, this is going to be mutually beneficial, 100 percent. I really believe, wholeheartedly, that if you are able to do something for the good of the game, for the good of players, the fans, all that, it makes a huge difference.
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Onto April’s LIV Golf Adelaide event. What can Aussies expect?
It’s a totally different format, right? It’s team golf. There’s an individual side, obviously, but then the team aspect is very important. As you saw in Miami this past year, there was so much excitement and thoughtfulness about the team aspect and how much it mattered. Each and every team member had to perform on demand, and you saw that with Pat Perez and what he did for his team when it mattered (Perez saved his best performance for last to help Dustin Johnson’s ‘4 Aces GC’ clinch the team championship). That type of excitement is going to be brought to Australia. That’s exciting to me. It’s the first time you’re going to see an actual team format outside the Presidents Cup. You’re going to be going for an actual franchise. You’re going to be going for guys you like. And you’re going to hate some other guys. You’re going to be booing. There’s going to be crazy, rowdy people out there and that’s what’s fun. That’s the future of golf, I believe, and I think it’s fun when you can relate it back to the populous.
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Adelaide is famous for its world-class wine. Are you ready to be blown away?
[Laughs] I do like wine, so I’m going to have to try a lot of it. I’m a Malbec type of guy, but I’ll definitely have to try some different Australian wines that fancy my palette. I’m always looking forward to that.
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A big criticism of LIV Golf is the guaranteed upfront payments you guys get for signing on. The consensus is you have no incentive to perform during tournaments because you’ve already been rewarded, financially. Wrong?
That is absolutely where they’ve got it wrong, my friend. We’re so incentivised to work hard every single day and do our absolute best. If anything, it’s almost more incentivising than the other models.
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How so?
Well, it’s incredibly incentivising for each and every player to do their best every single day. Whereas in other models, you make the cut by one or two, then you play poorly in that third or fourth round, or you shoot 61 and increase your amount of prizemoney by $1,000 – that’s not as incentivising. Whereas [with LIV’s team format], if you don’t play well on the last day and your score doesn’t count [towards the team total], everybody’s going to be like, Come on, man. What happened? Everybody’s score really matters at the end of the day. You’ve got to play your absolute best to help the team out because even if you’re out of contention for individual honours, there’s still the team component that you’re fighting for.
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You’re looking noticeably trimmer this year after turning into the Incredible Hulk and winning a US Open. What gives?
Yeah, I took a huge bulking route and I didn’t realise what I was eating was actually inflaming my blood. I was doing things to my body that I didn’t understand, and in 2020, I gave myself a really bad headache, really bad vertigo. I didn’t know what it was, if it was a self-induced concussion or whatever, but I wasn’t being cautious. From there it started this downward spiral of my system and I had not been able to figure it out until December last year when I got a full-body MRI scan and they saw something in my left maxillary sinus and said, “Oh, you’ve got a retention cyst in your left maxillary sinus.” I go to the ear, nose and throat doctor, and I find out that I’ve got a massively deviated septum. It’s blocking off my right sinus cavity. I have no idea what happened or how I got a deviated septum, but that’s what happened, so I went through sinus surgery three weeks ago and I’m perfect now. This is the best I’ve ever felt in my entire life. I feel like I’m a youngster again.
With regards to my diet, taking that test and seeing my inflammation levels with my doctor and testing out my blood against all different types of food – pretty much every food in the world – and eating the right stuff for my body, that’s when I got really lean. I got a chef and she cooked everything relative to my sensitivities. For two months, I ate perfect. The first month was an absolute disaster. I had mood swings. I was just irritable, really bad. I didn’t want to be around anyone. But the second month, I started to get better and everything levelled out. I did a stool test as well, and it showed I had a 10-out-of-10 inflamed gut. After that, I decided to change my diet. That was when I measured my sensitivities and got the tests. My gut was massively messed up and I said, ‘OK, I’m going to fix this.’ All of a sudden, my energy levels rose and became stable, and then I found out in December that I had this stuff going on with my sinus and I went and got sinus surgery. It’s been two-and-a-half weeks since then and I’m already a changed man. I feel like a 16-year-old kid again, so I would say the most important thing is to go and see your doctor and get your gut tested to see what is inflaming your blood relative to what you eat and then take all the bad stuff out. Take all the bad stuff out, keep working out hard, go get stuff fixed. If there’s something wrong with your body, go get it fixed. It is the best decision I’ve ever made in my entire life. My brain is firing so much faster, too.
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You’ve made plenty of headlines with your long-drive pursuits. Is that something you’re going to continue with this year?
My goal this year is to become one of the best golfers in the world, if not the best golfer in the world. I have all this distance and speed down, which is great, but now it’s time to put it to use, go back and do what I know how to do well, which is hit the ball straight, with this added speed. So that’s the goal for this year and, yeah, as it concerns the long-drive tour, there’s going to be times for that. How it all plays out, I don’t necessarily know. I’m not certain with the schedules and everything that’s going on, how it’s all going to play out. I will want to compete in long-drive events in the future. Finishing second [in the world event] last year, a lot of things had to go right for me to achieve that, I’ll tell you that [Laughs]. Those guys are incredible athletes and one day I hope that we can do something bigger for them because they deserve to be on ESPN. They deserve to be on some telecast that’s greater than just what they’re on right now, and I think that’s the eventual goal for them because it is bigger and I think better than [many would believe]. There is a huge market for it. It’s just untapped potential that nobody sees yet. It’s definitely bigger than cornhole, I’ll tell you that.
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What are your hopes for professional golf amid this so-called war? What’s the best outcome for the sport and its fans?
The best thing that could ever happen is everyone coming back together at some point. People eventually laying down their weapons and just going, You know what? Let’s do this for the game of golf. Someone may not own the full game of [professional] golf anymore, but for the whole game of golf we’ll all have a bigger pie. We may not have as big of a piece of pie, but let’s do this for the game of golf, to grow the game in total. That’s my biggest hope. With regards to the world rankings, LIV players deserve world rankings points, absolutely, and if they think we’re circumventing it, no. We’re actually going along with the rules. If anything, we should have been getting points since last year’s Bangkok and Jeddah events because of the MENA Tour [co-sanctioning] – we filled all the requirements of the the Official World Golf Ranking system and for them not to give us points is a bit disappointing and frustrating because they know dang well we qualified on every single point. They’re just doing it, most likely, to hold us out until we drop far enough down the rankings that, when we do get points, it won’t matter that much anyway. It’s a very simple thing and if people can’t read between the lines, then I’m sorry but we have a bigger discussion.
