It’s been a tough 2026 for two-time major champion Bryson DeChambeau. Although he won twice on LIV Golf in March, his major performance is what will define his season.
And those results haven’t been good. At all. DeChambeau, for the first time in his career, missed the cut in three consecutive majors: the 2026 Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
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But you’re only as good as your last round, and DeChambeau finally has some momentum going in 2026. In the first round of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, DeChambeau shared the lead until he made a bogey on his final hole.
Still, he managed to shoot a 3-under 67, putting himself in great position to at least make the cut and potentially contend for a major championship again.
DeChambeau hadn’t shot under par in any of his six major rounds in 2026, so it was far and away his best major round of the year. He played in the same group with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and finished one shot better than Scheffler.
DeChambeau flashed the long game that helped vault him into the conversation as one of the best players in the world. With Royal Birkdale dried out, DeChambeau took advantage and played aggressively off the tee. Even though he hit only 5 of 14 fairways, the 32-year-old American was second in the field in strokes gained: off the tee following the morning wave.
In 2024 and 2025, DeChambeau finished inside the top 10 in six of his eight major starts, including a win at the 2024 U.S. Open and a pair of runner-up finishes at the 2024 and 2025 PGA Championships.
He was being discussed in the same conversation as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy as one of the best golfers on the planet.
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But with the future of LIV Golf up in the air, DeChambeau made comments implying he might not return to the PGA Tour should LIV Golf shut down and could instead focus on YouTube golf.
Former players and golf analysts teed off on DeChambeau’s comments, saying that his focus on YouTube golf over competitive professional golf affected his majors performance.
Heading into the Open Championship, Nick Faldo said DeChambeau “has zero clue of strategy”.
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Brandel Chamblee piled on: “It’s almost like he went from chasing Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy to chasing [YouTube golfer] Grant Horvat. It’s like he wants to outdo every YouTuber in the game of golf instead of outplay everybody in the game of golf.”
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DeChambeau, who usually makes himself available to the media following his rounds, declined to speak to reporters following Thursday’s performance.
But, for at least one day at the Open Championship, DeChambeau looked a lot more like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy than Grant Horvat.
Whether he can keep it up remains to be seen.
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