{"id":695560,"date":"2026-07-16T22:03:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T22:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695560\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T22:03:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T22:03:18","slug":"bryson-dechambeau-takes-subtle-swipe-at-nick-faldo-as-jackson-suber-sets-open-pace-the-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695560\/","title":{"rendered":"Bryson DeChambeau takes subtle swipe at Nick Faldo as Jackson Suber sets Open pace | The Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

From no clue and no strategy to no explanation. Who or what is eating Bryson DeChambeau<\/a>? Maybe the coming days will reveal all. Then again \u2026<\/p>\n

A fine and widely unexpected start to the 154th Open Championship was not sufficient to alter DeChambeau\u2019s uncommunicative approach towards anybody who may not be inclined to tickle his tummy. Following a fifth major round in a row, DeChambeau declined the opportunity to speak to eagerly assembled media. One once so garrulous has lost his tongue.<\/p>\n

There was plenty to ask. Nick Faldo, who knows a thing or two about the claiming of the Claret Jug, asserted before an Open ball was struck. \u201cI\u2019d say it to his face, DeChambeau has zero clue of strategy,\u201d Faldo said. Ouch.<\/p>\n

DeChambeau appears to have new irons in his bag, having previously revealed he was manufacturing his own. He has switched his driver. LIV Golf<\/a>, DeChambeau\u2019s domain, remains a key talking point. Range chatter at Birkdale is that DeChambeau is desperate to remain with the circuit despite the imminent removal of Saudi Arabian cash. Credible backers are said to be looking at a scaled-down but functioning LIV from 2027.<\/p>\n

Pieced together and when added to a 67, which placed him just two from the Open lead, there is much for DeChambeau to opine on.<\/p>\n

Instead, his silence reflects poorly not only upon the 32-year-old himself, but also the underlings who form part of his \u201cteam\u201d.<\/p>\n

Should he object to Faldo\u2019s opprobrium, DeChambeau can take that up directly with the six-time major winner. Instead, there were only bland words given to the tournament organisers by way of box ticking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a hard fought battle out there,\u201d said DeChambeau. \u201cThe wind was switching quite a bit. It was fun seeing the fans going at us and they were rooting for all of us. It was fun just seeing the ups and downs of the group, but we all played pretty well. It was a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some driving holes out there I\u2019ve got to work on. Other than that, I played really well. Made some good putts and three-putted once but that\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed it is, Bryson. So, too, when a sportsman of DeChambeau\u2019s standing, is the public handling of tricky times. What followed was perhaps \u2013 one is left to speculate \u2013 a subtle swipe at Faldo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019ve got to be a lot more strategic out on the golf course,\u201d DeChambeau said. \u201cI feel like I did a really good job today of being incredibly strategic and focused super-hard on placing it in the right places.\u201d Faldo, rather enjoying the scene, claimed from his television booth that he had \u201crattled the cage\u201d of DeChambeau.<\/p>\n

First-round leader Jackson Suber in action on the 18th hole at his first European event. Photograph: Russell Cheyne\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Tyrrell Hatton, who played in DeChambeau\u2019s company, scoffed at the notion that the American\u2019s prominence here is in any way a shock. Not only is DeChambeau\u2019s Open record patchy but he has missed the cut in the three majors completed thus far in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t surprise anyone,\u201d said Hatton, who signed for a one-under 69. \u201cHe\u2019s an amazing player. He flights the ball great. His ball flight today was really good. He didn\u2019t really hit many bad shots. As I said, he\u2019s an amazing player and it shouldn\u2019t really surprise anyone that he\u2019s doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dropped shot at the last nudged DeChambeau out of what at that stage was a share of the lead. The Californian\u2019s second shot flew over the 18th green, from where he under-hit a chip. DeChambeau had only reached four under par a hole earlier. Im Sung-jae and Dan Brown remained there, only to be usurped by Jackson Suber. This marks Suber\u2019s first visit to Europe. \u201cThe golf is really cool,\u201d said Suber.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the towns, how the train system works.\u201d News of potential industrial action on the railways at the weekend has not reached the Open debutant. Suber\u2019s inward half of 31 was superb. He probably\/surely\/certainly cannot win but should enjoy these 15 minutes of fame.<\/p>\n

In a congested field, DeChambeau has eight players for leaderboard company. Bob MacIntyre, Francesco Molinari, Cameron Young and Thomas Detry are among them. The morning provided the softer side of the draw on day one. Even then DeChambeau, Hatton and Scottie Scheffler took more than five and a half hours to complete the round.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you imagine if we had bad weather?\u201d Hatton said. \u201cIt would be even longer. I don\u2019t know how the pace of play gets better. It\u2019s obviously a big field. The par-fives were reachable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland finishes his round after a frustrating day with the putter in his hand. Photograph: Stuart Kerr\/R&A\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy, who finished his round as shadows lengthened, endured early woes with his putter. Frustration was seeping out of McIlroy. The Masters champion\u2019s hooked approach to the 17th from knotty grass, preceding a miscued pitch, rekindled that sentiment. Fortune favoured a brave McIlroy approach to the last, setting up a birdie. McIlroy is far from out of it at two over. He will, though, want to sprint from the gates on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Scheffler was four under after six before sliding back to minus two. Henrik Stenson, the 2016 winner, is on the same score, as is Collin Morikawa. Shane Lowry scrapped hard for his 69.<\/p>\n

Justin Rose\u2019s Thursday was notable and not for positive reasons. A 75 means the Englishman faces a battle to make the cut in a tournament he was heavily fancied for. A double bogey at the 11th summed up Rose\u2019s woes. Links golf; a fickle beast. It can involve fickle characters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From no clue and no strategy to no explanation. Who or what is eating Bryson DeChambeau? Maybe the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-695560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}