{"id":558312,"date":"2026-07-20T02:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/558312\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T02:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:07:17","slug":"bryson-dechambeaus-dramatic-week-at-the-open-revealed-a-fragile-kind-of-showmanship-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/558312\/","title":{"rendered":"Bryson DeChambeau\u2019s dramatic week at The Open revealed a fragile kind of showmanship \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a week to show that Bryson DeChambeau<\/a> has a fragile kind of showmanship.<\/p>\n

His magnetism is not affected by crossing seas. Just ask Jack Suber, whose son Jackson had the misfortune of being paired with DeChambeau for Sunday\u2019s final round. He had to intervene when a fan waved his hat to catch DeChambeau\u2019s attention while Jackson was hitting his drive off the first and bit his lip at the second tee when a fan within earshot asked for the identity of Bryson\u2019s playing partner before quickly answering his own question. \u201cNot that it f***ing matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Birkdale\u2019s crowds flocked to see DeChambeau and flecked their roars with ironic humour. When he appeared on the first tee a fan yelled, \u201cRory\u2019ll buy you a pint after this!\u201d He grinned back, perhaps through gritted teeth. <\/p>\n

He had to keep those teeth gritted. With his radar badly askew, he clung on grimly until it all gave way on the 11th hole when he lost his ball a mile right. He got down for a triple-bogey that smithereened his challenge, finishing six shots from winner Ryan Fox.<\/p>\n

His silver lining is that he finished sufficiently down the leaderboard that his two-shot penalty on Friday did not cost him a first Claret Jug. The scene after that penalty\u2019s imposition was a moment when the curtains fell to reveal a fuller picture of DeChambeau. Golf is held up as an expression of one\u2019s character but we don\u2019t see every dimension of a person between the ropes, as DeChambeau is not always the sauntering jock we see on television.<\/p>\n

\"BrysonBryson DeChambeau of the United States is driven by a rules offical on a buggy on day two of The Open. Photograph: Richard Heathcote\/Getty <\/p>\n

Tens of journalists and camera crews were gathered by the scorers\u2019 tent waiting for DeChambeau to emerge from Friday\u2019s inquiry, all compelled to the scene by that oddly truant thrill of sideshow news.<\/p>\n

DeChambeau eventually appeared, walking stiffly, his cheeks stung with reproach and his gaze fixed ahead, a deeply unconvincing smile applied to his face. He ignored the questions asking whether he was actually going to withdraw in protest, instead repeatedly asking, How\u2019s everyone doing tonight? Y\u2019all having a good evening?\u201d<\/p>\n

The media trailed him all the way to the driving range, where he started thwacking balls into the gloaming. He whistled as he swung, offering snacks to the journalists standing behind. He was still hitting balls as the night curtained around him, until he was illuminated only by a digital scoreboard that glowed like the neon sign of some dingy American motel. He packed up and left at 10.30pm, handing a glove to a bewildered security guard who didn\u2019t appear to have asked for it. <\/p>\n

The whole 90-minute scene was surreal and uncomfortable. DeChambeau was not acting like a circus ringmaster, putting on one late encore for the press. This was more akin to the teacher\u2019s pet whose world is knocked off its axis by a rare reprimand, searching frantically for some comfort and equilibrium. We felt like queasy interlopers on a private scene. <\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy said DeChambeau range session was \u201cperformative\u201d<\/a> but perhaps the driving range is the only place DeChambeau feels truly comfortable. Walloping golf balls may be his equivalent of locking his bedroom door.<\/p>\n

Obviously disappointed with the ruling. I don\u2019t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let\u2019s get it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bryson DeChambeau (@brysondech) July 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

DeChambeau is afflicted with a very modern kind of awkwardness. Though he is able to perform for millions of people through the camera lens of his phone, he becomes a bundle of frantic, clumsy energy around people when out of his comfort zone. It is telling that the only answer he could provide to questions on his weekend plans was via a post on social media late on Friday night. He included with this a cheap Photoshop depicting him hovering above trampled grass. The man we stood behind on Friday night was not remotely capable of the same pithy, breezy humour.<\/p>\n

He did not speak to the media all week, declining on Thursday out of pique after Nick Faldo said he had \u201czero clue of strategy.\u201d He was eventually convinced to answer a few pre-screened questions from the R&A, and crammed the word \u201cstrategic\u201d three times into his first answer, replete with a knowing eye to the camera.<\/p>\n

His peers were asked to talk about him instead, many of whom came to his defence. Scottie Scheffler seasoned his calls to recommit to self-policing the games\u2019 rules by insisting that DeChambeau is \u201ca lot of things, but he\u2019s definitely not a cheater.\u201d McIlroy\u2019s view was by a distance the most withering. We wonder what offends DeChambeau more, McIlroy\u2019s unsparing comments or his gregarious ease in delivering them? <\/p>\n

For McIlroy has the social comfort that eludes DeChambeau. After the 2025 Masters, DeChambeau\u2019s chief complaint was that McIlroy didn\u2019t talk to him for the whole of the final round. There is a loneliness in those comments and there was a loneliness in Friday night\u2019s range session too. <\/p>\n

\"BrysonBryson DeChambeau of the United States reacts to a rules official on the 18th hole on day three of The Open. Photograph: Andrew Redington\/Getty <\/p>\n

DeChambeau spoke earlier this year of needing to make a choice between pro golf and full-time content creation. We can understand why he so loves the world of YouTube, because if he feels at peace with a golf club in his hand, content creation allows him to design and condition the environment around him, too.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for him, there is no such insulation at a Major championship at which he doesn\u2019t make the rules. He ignored the media one last time on Sunday, so we will next hear from him on his own social channels.<\/p>\n

As someone more comfortable in the depthless world of content, DeChambeau is a fitting sporting avatar for his age. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a week to show that Bryson DeChambeau has a fragile kind of showmanship. His magnetism is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[29420,61,60,110980,1394,112],"class_list":["post-558312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-bryson-dechambeau","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-open-championship","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}