Bryson DeChambeau proved himself to be one of the best golfers in the world during the 2024 season. Amid a massive public relations reinvention, the 30-year-old captured the U.S. Open with an iconic bunker shot and gave Xander Schauffale everything he could handle before eventually finishing second at the PGA Championship. Throw in a sixth-place showing at the Masters and he had a chance to do something really special before ultimately failing to show up at the Open.
But all of this was not enough to earn him a spot on Team USA at the Paris Olympics. Instead, Scottie Scheffler, Schauffale, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark will be teeing it up and driving for gold.
DeChambeau won't be there as a result of his standing in the Official World Golf Rankings, where he currently sits at No. 9. This is behind the four Americans who made the team — Scheffler at No. 1, Schauffale at No. 2, Clark at No. 5 and Morikawa at No. 6.
A major factor in all of this is DeChambeau's decision to play for LIV Golf. Those tournaments are not recognized by the OWFR. If he was still competing on the PGA Tour, there's a very good chance that he would have been among the top four and made Team USA. Other golfers on the LIV circuit were able to overcome this challenge as seven will be participating in the Games—Jon Rahm, Joaquin Neimann, Mito Pereira, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, David Puig and Adrian Meronk.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Isn’t Bryson DeChambeau Playing for Team USA in the Olympics?.
