A recent Golfweek story detailed how Bryson DeChambeau was visiting Ping this week to test out equipment after a dysfunctional relationship with Cobra-Puma came to an end in 2023.
Included was a mention of how DeChambeau shed tears when he was presented with the first batch of his Cobra single-length irons, which went straight into his bag. He commemorated the moment by signing the frosted glass wall in CEO Bob Philion’s office in permanent ink: ‘The day the game changed, July 13, 2016.’
That anecdote got me thinking. The 2020 U.S. Open champion has never been shy with his emotions or ideas, making him one of the most polarizing figures in the game and an incredible quote. Here are some of his best.
Dedication
“If I wanted to learn Arabic or Russian, I could. Or tie my shoes in a new way, I could. Why? Dedication,” he told Golf Digest in 2016. “I’m not really smart, but I’m dedicated. I can be good at anything if I love it and dedicate myself. And I love history. I love science. I love music. I love golf. I love learning. I love life. I love trying to be the best at anything and everything.”
This one sets the tone. DeChambeau’s confidence in himself is admirable and his work ethic is next level. He also jumps from foreign languages to tying shoes, proving you truly never know where his brain is going to go.
A wild week in Las Vegas
DeChambeau was in his bag with trending quotes at the 2018 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, where he claimed his fifth of eight PGA Tour wins.
Earlier in the week he explained how the “coefficient of restitution of the flagstick” will decide whether or not he chooses to leave the flagstick in while putting. Then, during his victory press conference, he explained what it means to be “neurologically comfortable.”
"No, that's a secret." 😂 pic.twitter.com/hGeVZ2wGAF
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 5, 2018
Mad scientist or gymnast?
Known for his unique, scientific approach to the game, DeChambeau went all-in on his physique at the end of 2019.
“I’m going to become like a gymnast. I watch online, on Instagram, these gymnast influencers, and that’s where I want to get,” he told Golf.com of his Incredible Bulk phase.
Par 67
Ahead of the November 2020 Masters, DeChambeau explained to Golf Channel why he thinks Augusta National Golf Club, a par 72, is a par 67 for him.
“I’m looking at it as a par 67 for me because I can reach all the par fives in two, no problem. If the conditions stay the way they are, that’s what I feel like par is for me.”
In three appearances since those bold comments DeChambeau has finished T-34, T-46 and missed the cut. Over his 10 rounds, he’s broken the actual par of 72 three times, and his own par of 67 zero.
'The driver sucks'
DeChambeau voiced his displeasure with his driver at the Open Championship in 2021 and he certainly didn’t hold back.
“If I can hit it down the middle of the fairway, that’s great, but with the driver right now … the driver sucks. It’s not a good face for me, and we’re still trying to figure out how to make it good on the mis-hits. I’m living on the razor’s edge, like I’ve told people for a long time.”
Cobra, expectedly, wasn’t too pleased with DeChambeau.
“Everybody is bending over backwards.” Cobra’s tour operations manager Ben Shomin said in response. “We’ve got multiple guys in R&D who are CAD’ing (computer-aided design) this and CAD-ing that, trying to get this and that into the pipeline faster. (Bryson) knows it. It’s just really, really painful when he says something that stupid.”
"The driver SUCKS"
No holding back from @b_dechambeau on his golf today at #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/T39wWG17wb
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 15, 2021
Why he doesn’t win
“The only reason why I don’t win is because of a bad decision, misjudged the wind, misjudged the read on the greens and wet conditions,” he told SI in 2019. “Those are the three or four things that will cause me not to win. That’s it.”
Must be nice to make the perfect contact every time you swing a club.
'Whoever is calling me Brooksy needs to get outta here'
The petty war that was the Bryson vs. Brooks beef of 2021 really took off after the following clip. After one of the softest feuds in the history of professional sports, the two squared off in The Match, eventually made up at the Ryder Cup and have since joined LIV Golf, burying whatever public issues they may have had (or at the very least hiding them).
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) May 26, 2021
Setting (or not setting) goals
Back in 2016, DeChambeau explained to Golf.com why he doesn’t set goals.
“I’m very technical in everything I do. But one thing I don’t do is set goals. Goals are actually a hindrance to me, because they limit you.”
That’s pretty next-level thinking from a 23 year old, but he’d later change his tune in 2019.
Pizza shop analogy
DeChambeau attempted to compare the PGA Tour and LIV Golf feud to a pizza shop. It didn’t go well.
“It’s so weird, because it’s like – let’s use this as a reference. I heard this earlier this week. You have a pizza shop that’s been in existence for 50 years and all the customers go to it and it’s a great product.
“All of a sudden, a new pizza shop opens up, right? And they start paying the customers to come eat at their place, and that pizza is potentially a little bit better of a pizza, right? And then, all of a sudden, that original pizza house goes, if you go over there, we’re banning you from ever coming back to our pizza shop. What’s wrong with that economic model?”
