August 2024 - Bryson's Back

Following his dramatic U.S. Open victory, three-time Illinois winner returns to defend his LIV Golf Chicago title
This article appeared in the August 2024 edition of Chicago District Golfer.
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2024 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau has won three times in Illinois: the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields, the John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities and last year at LIV Golf Chicago at Rich Harvest Farms (pictured).

Long before the 2024 major championships were really on anyone’s mind, Bryson DeChambeau made a visit to Augusta National. It was in early January, the weather was cold and damp, and it was nothing like it would be in April when the Masters rolled around.

Didn’t matter. DeChambeau was determined to put two years of tumult and treachery behind him. He wanted a better showing in the major championships. The winner of the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, DeChambeau had seen his game slide in the biggest tournaments, with plenty of noise surrounding him that made the process difficult.

He also visited Pinehurst No. 2, the site of the U.S. Open, well before anyone else. He was clearly on a mission, one that has paid off handsomely with a dramatic victory that created a highlight reel for the ages.

DeChambeau, 30, was a major factor in each of the first three majors this year. He tied for sixth at the Masters, was runner-up to Xander Schauffele at the PGA Championship and then prevailed at Pinehurst, where Rory McIlroy’s misfortune coupled with DeChambeau’s incredible final-hole bunker shot resulted in a second U.S. Open victory. He missed the cut at the British Open.

It’s been some year for the “Mad Scientist,’’ who comes to the Chicago District in September for the defense of his LIV Golf Chicago title that he won last year at Rich Harvest Farms. The event has moved to a new venue, Bolingbrook Golf Club, and DeChambeau promises to be among the star attractions along with fellow major champions Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia.

This year, LIV Golf Chicago will serve as the finale for the 2024 individual championship, which will pay the winner an $18 million bonus. Joaquin Niemann is ranked No. 1 and has a good lead on Rahm, Garcia and Tyrell Hatton. Last year’s individual winner was Talor Gooch.

The turnaround for DeChambeau – including his popularity with fans – has been impressive.

“The low point was after the Masters in 2022,’’ DeChambeau explained. “I broke my hand and I had to have surgery. I didn’t know if I was ever going to play golf. I thought there was a chance I would play high, competitive golf again, not knowing how it would affect my game and my speed and everything.

DeChambeau following his 2015 U.S. Amateur win at Olympia Fields (left) and his triumph at the 2017 John Deere Classic (right).

“Certainly, going into surgery was probably the lowest, then waiting eight weeks, not knowing if I was going to be able to grip a club with the same effort and feel the same and all that, and then struggling with my game. That whole four- or five-month period was pretty rough. There were some definite low moments. Made me rethink a lot of things in life.’’

DeChambeau began to emerge on the scene nearly a decade ago when he won the 2015 NCAA individual title while playing for Southern Methodist University. Then, later that summer he won the U.S. Amateur at south suburban Chicago’s Olympia Fields Country Club.

Two years later, DeChambeau won his first PGA Tour event when he captured the 2017 John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities. A year later, DeChambeau was playing practice rounds with Tiger Woods and eventually winning two FedExCup playoff events, stamping himself as one of the game’s elite players. He completed his Illinois trifecta with his LIV Golf Chicago victory at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

When DeChambeau won that U.S. Open at Winged Foot in 2020 with all of the majors delayed by the pandemic, he seemed on top of the world. As the only player to finish under par, expectations were immense a few weeks later at Augusta National’s November Masters.

DeChambeau was at the height of his weight- gaining, ball-crushing power and even noted that Augusta National, with its reachable par 5s, was more like a par-67 for him.

“Everybody gives me crap about that,’’ he said. “I’ll forever have that. I own it.’’

DeChambeau never sniffed 67. Playing the final round with two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer, who was 63 at the time, DeChambeau was hitting it more than 100 yards past the PGA Tour Champions player. And yet, Langer beat him, 71-73, as DeChambeau tied for 34th. In six appearances at the Masters as a pro, he never cracked the top 20. Until this year.

Despite that Masters setback, DeChambeau was crushing the ball and still gaining confidence. From the fall of 2019 when he went on the weight-gaining and muscle-building binge, DeChambeau had gained some 50 pounds and was hitting tee shots more than 20 yards longer. DeChambeau said he maxed out at 240 pounds. He was around 190 pounds when he started and said he was consuming more than 4,000 calories per day.

“It was a lot of fun because I didn’t care,’’ said DeChambeau about being able to eat virtually whatever he wanted. “And then you realize you have to care because it starts to bite you in the butt.’’

There was considerable noise that surrounded him. Remember the “feud’’ with Brooks Koepka? It seems quaint now, but that was a weekly point of discussion in those days. “We have a level of respect now that we didn’t then,’’ DeChambeau says.

Both players being part of LIV Golf has helped change their relationship. There’s more of a bond in a world that has seen them heavily criticized for their decisions.

Having turned 30, Bryson DeChambeau seems to be a changed man. However, his winning celebration looks remarkably similar to his reaction at the 2017 John Deere Classic.

DeChambeau continued to face obstacles in 2021. He split with his caddie just before the British Open. He was highly critical of his equipment company and endorser at the same tournament. He tested positive for COVID-19, thus missing the Olympics. He had a couple of top-10s in the FedExCup playoffs, including an excruciating playoff loss to Patrick Cantlay in the Western Golf Association’s BMW Championship.

Moreover, the weight gain and everything that came with it was starting to bother him into 2022.

“I couldn’t breathe very well. I couldn’t sleep very well,’’ he said. “This is just not healthy for my body.’’ It couldn’t prevent injuries that derailed him in 2022, around the same time the LIV Golf rumors began to circulate and DeChambeau admitted that he wondered about his future.

It wasn’t until the spring of 2023 when he tied for fourth at the PGA, where Koepka won, that DeChambeau began to regain some confidence. But the real change occurred with his driver, one he put in play just before shooting 58 at the Greenbrier last summer.

“The big turning point was when I got that Krank driver (Krank Formula Fire LD) the week before Greenbrier,’’ he says. “My whole game changed since then.’’

That’s why DeChambeau was looking forward to a return to form at the majors this year. For all his success, he had just four top-10s prior to this year. Now he’s added three more including a victory that had the golf world buzzing.

“Overwhelming gratitude, just a lot of thanks from everybody,’’ he said. “The support and the care that everybody has shown me and brought to me and the love that they’ve shown me has been inspiring. It’s what keeps me going.’’

A Barrington native and an Evans Scholar, Bob Harig covers men’s professional golf for Sports Illustrated’s SI.com. He is the author of the book “Tiger and Phil, Golf’s Greatest Rivalry.”

LIV Golf Chicago heads to Bolingbrook

LIV Golf Chicago will be back in the Chicago District for the third consecutive year and will be played for the first time at Bolingbrook Golf Club, 2001 Rodeo Drive, in Bolingbrook, located approximately 40 minutes southwest of downtown Chicago.

Bolingbrook Golf Club is an Arthur Hills-Steve Forrest design that opened in 2002. It measures 7,104 yards from the tips and plays to a par 72. The course has bentgrass tees, greens and fairways and features water hazards on seven holes. Greens fees are $120.

Grounds tickets are still available and children 12 and under receive a complimentary Grounds pass. The tournament has several hospitality venues, although some are sold out. Ticket information can be found at livgolf.com.

As in the past, the tournament will have a Fan Village, which features activities for adults and children. The festivities also will include post-golf musical acts (not announced at press time).