The Memorial Tournament always gives us some memorable moments. With Jack Nicklaus always near for some insightful comments with the media and his pride showing through for his big, green baby – Muirfield Village.
A list of great champions, a history of exciting tournaments and a legacy of golfing history surround Muirfield.
Yesterday the latest and greatest phenom of the PGA Tour added to that history. But he certainly wishes he hadn’t.
Bryson DeChambeau is currently the hottest topic of conversation in golf. He spent the off-season and COVID Shutdown reshaping his body. He added pounds and pounds of muscle and increased his swing speed to ranges never seen on the tour. He likes to think of himself as the golfer-scientist and greater swing speed translates to greater ball speed and longer drives. 
And it worked. The measure of a long drive on tour used to be 300 yards, then 320 then 350 but now DeChambeau is pumping out 400 yard drives with regularity. It’s a game that none of us are familiar with.
But length isn’t everything…in golf anyway.
And while Bryson has been able to hit plenty of those long drives straight like most golfers he can pump one way left or way right on any given tee.
On the fifteenth tee in the second round of The Memorial he hooked one into the creek. Oops! Then he took an aggressive line with a 3 wood from deep rough and sprayed it right and out of bounds. Oops! Then he dropped another and did the same thing. Oops! His third from the rough (insert Tin Cup joke here) was only slightly better and bounced down the cart path and was playable…barely.
So Mr. Science gets to his first ball and it was sitting under the fence. Now the rules of golf can be confusing for anyone but a pro should know this rule. It was clearly out but he wouldn’t have it. He called for a rules official who promptly ruled correctly, “It’s OB.”
No good for the hot headed long baller who whined and wanted another rules official. “You’re kidding me,” he said “I don’t believe it. Can I get a second ruling? Please?”
Another official came in, explained and demonstrated why the ball was out and if Bryson didn’t know the rule then he needs to open the rule book next time he is back in his laboratory instead of downing a protein shake.
DeChambeau displayed such a poor attitude towards the official and acted like a spoiled toddler who knew that whining gets him what he wants. I can’t help but think he didn’t want a real ruling but some favorable help from the officials. Rules are rules and he finally submitted and he pouted his way to a score of 10 on the hole and that took him outside the cut line.
He deserved every stroke of that 10 not just for the lousy execution of his shots or the horrible decision making but for his piss poor, entitled, self righteous, obnoxious attitude.
Remember this is a guy that berated a network cameraman for filming him a few weeks ago. DeChambeau, after hittng a poor shot was upset that the cameraman focused on him as he reacted in disgust to his poor play. He said later that the tour and their television partners should be protecting the players and he actually said he worried about “hurting my brand.” Seriously?
Back up a minute here Einstein. It’s the PGA Tour and their broadcast partners that allows morons like you to have a brand. And that cameraman was doing his job. I am pretty sure Bryson enjoys it when he gets to chat with the press after his round especially after he wins like he did at the Rocket Mortgage Classic when he went all NASCAR in his post round interview and listed all his sponsors and never gave any thought to the questions being asked.
Guess what? Your Bryson Brand just took another big hit. You were difficult to watch before this body transformation because you were so slow, excruciatingly slow. But with 400 yard drives you became “must watch golf” and that was a good thing for ‘the brand’ but you blew it. Your recent behavior has exposed you as a thin skinned, self serving, entitled, cry baby.
There was a movement that had started to gain momentum with Bryson’s new, thick body. The kids were calling it “Thicc Boy” a reference to that weight gain with a little hip hop flair.
I think it’s changed now. It’s more like “Dicc Boy.” Grow up Bryson.
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On the mark,Jeffrey.
Elite athletes need to have a bit of a selfish streak in order to achieve excellence,especially so in professional golf. Bryson’s self concern is a real obsession,though. He has a unique approach to the game with his uniform club lengths and devotion to an analytic method for each shot. He is also consumed by perfectionism. He’s not the only golfer to kneel at the altar of that false idol. But he’s oblivious to the reality that the all consuming pursuit of perfection is, in the long run, the road to ruin. The new tour playingConditions ,without fans, Has allowed us to eavesdrop on players during their rounds with an intimacy we’ve never had before. We can hear Bryson’s pre-shot calculations and post shot commentaries With alarming clarity. This is a man on a razors edge. I don’t know when it will happen but I’m convinced he will crash and burn.
Burn (cry)Baby Burn!