Foreign News
Bryson DeChambeau bemoans missed opportunity at The Open, shoots 64 in LIV opening round
It wasn’t a lot but days after becoming a central figure at Royal Birkdale, Bryson DeChambeau finally spoke to reporters about his takeaways from finishing T-14 at the year’s final major championship.
The two-time U.S. Open winner lamented upon the missed opportunity to hoist the claret jug. He was cruising for two days before being assessed a two-stroke penalty after Round 2 for improving the path of his backswing on the fifth hole. DeChambeau never recovered, going 69-72 over the weekend.
“It was a good fight. I wish I would have given it more on Saturday and Sunday. Felt like I could have,” he said after shooting an 8-under 64 in the opening round of LIV Golf – United Kingdom. “Besides the fifth hole and being 3 over on that hole and then the 11th hole (where he made triple bogey Sunday), that’s six shots. That’s tied for the lead right there. That’s two holes and I’m right there with the claret jug.”
While his reaction to the R&A’s ruling has become a point of contention, DeChambeau’s performance at JCB Golf and Country Club would indicate he has put the episode in the rearview mirror despite the amount of attention it received.
There were no other Open-related questions at the LIV event, but DeChambeau did address another LIV player who had a strong follow up performance after making headlines (and history) at Royal Birkdale: Lucas Herbert, who shot 61 Thursday.
“Seeing Lucas up there, it’s pretty impressive what he’s doing right now, and it will be a good battle hopefully this weekend,” said DeChambeau, who sits three shots off Herbert’s lead. “I looked up on 14 and I’m like, ’10 under, oh, my gosh, all right, I’ve got to birdie every hole.’ I kind of switched my mentality towards going for it a little bit and being a little bit more aggressive.”
DeChambeau credited that mentality switch for his solo second place on the leaderboard after 18 holes.
“Sometimes when you see that lead moving away from you, you’re just, OK, just free up and let yourself go,” he said.
‘Wave of momentum’
Herbert, who opened the tournament this week with three straight birdies before carding a bogey-free opening round, finished T-6 at Birkdale after shooting a record-tying 62 in Round 2 to take the 36-hole lead.
“It’s one of those little patches for me where it feels like when I need a good bounce, I get one. If I misread a putt a little, it tends to not break the way I thought it would and find an edge to go in,” he told reporters. “It’s kind of fun to ride that wave of momentum right now.”
Before putting on a display at The Open, the 30-year-old Herbert won LIV Golf – Virginia in May when he fired an opening-round 64. The T-6 finish at The Open was his career best at a major, topping a T-13 at the 2022 PGA Championship.
Like DeChambeau, he used the word “battle” when looking ahead to the remaining LIV tournament this week.
“It was great seeing Bryson play the way he did last week because the story Wednesday was he was on a streak of — he was potentially going to miss every cut for the year, and then all of a sudden the conversation about him Friday was very, very different,” Herbert said. “He comfortably knocked that story on the head and he was in the media for other reasons, but one of them being he was playing some great golf. It’s good to see him doing that.
“Every time I play with him it’s a fun battle. He brings a lot of energy with the crowd. I’m kind of looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully the English crowds get out and feel the energy, too.”
Rahm sits T-38 after Round 1
Jon Rahm didn’t take to JCB Golf and Country Club as well, finishing with a 1-over 73 to sit T-38 entering Friday.
Rahm, who followed up a missed cut at the U.S. Open in June with a T-48 at Birkdale, didn’t give an interview to the media after his opening round.
He did speak to reporters earlier in the week and called his start to last weekend, where he hit his opening tee shot out of bounds both Saturday and Sunday, “a glass of cold water to the face.”
“Having to play catch-up the rest of the day on a golf course that was playing trickier and trickier every day, it’s not easy at all,” he said.
It’s Rahm vs. DeChambeau for the LIV regular season player of the year. Rahm was asked about winning for the third consecutive year before the tournament.
“I still need to expect a bad week from Bryson, which based on how he’s been playing last week most likely won’t happen,” he said. “I would expect a fight from him and other players, and I still need to perform at my best to finish it off.”
