ROYAL BIRKDALE — Bryson DeChambeau is two days away from an ignominious achievement.
Should the American find himself outside the top 70 after play on Friday, he will not make the weekend’s play and achieve the “cut slam”: he will have missed the cut at all four slams.
You could argue he would be the best player ever to do it: no multiple major winner (under the age of 40, since some of the exempt veterans have managed it) has ever done it. Perhaps the best previous entry is Sergio Garcia, who in 2018 missed all four cuts as reigning Masters champion.
So I thought best to go and see how form might affect his mood: I trailed him for his last two days of preparation at Birkdale, and was surprised by what I found.
The most popular golfer on the course
You can track the movement of the big names on a golf course by the hive of activity around them. A deserted thoroughfare between tee and green suddenly becomes Piccadilly Circus the second one of the superstars sinks a putt and marches towards the next hole.
Even on practice day, DeChambeau had hundreds of fans following him (Photo: AP)Masters champion Rory McIlroy is one of them, local hero Tommy Fleetwood is another, but Bryson DeChambeau has an army of fans following him around too. They are noticeably younger as well, doubtless driven by his enormous social media presence.
A world of selfies
These hordes, young and old, are united in their quest for a souvenir, whether that is a selfie, a signature, a ball that DeChambeau has been using or a moment of proximity to the American.
I’ve seen enough golfers chuck the odd ball to the crowd, even on practice day, but otherwise resolutely ignore autograph and souvenir hunters. Not so DeChambeau.
DeChambeau found time for selfies and signatures on Tuesday and Wednesday (Photo: AP)At the putting green, he spent 45 minutes signing autographs and posing for selfies – not quite long enough to get through all of his 2.2m followers on TikTok, but in 28-degree heat it felt a bit like it.
“It’s really changed my mind about him,” said one volunteer watching on with a tone of surprise that echoed my own expectations about the 32-year-old golfer.
Every move is content
Two weeks ago, DeChambeau posted a 34-minute YouTube video entitled “I’ve missed 3 straight cuts… let’s talk about it”, breaking down his latest failure to make the weekend of a major at the US Open shot by shot.
There is some irony there, since you could easily argue his commitment to the YouTube channel – with 2.77m subscribers at time of writing – is starting to impinge on his golf.
“It’s like he wants to outdo every YouTuber in the game of golf instead of outplay everybody in the game of golf,” said Brandel Chamblee, former player and now analyst for the Golf Channel.
Just a few days before his first practice round at Birkdale, he was spotted filming a video at the Silvertip Resort in Canada, rather than spending time adjusting to the idiosyncrasies of Open golf.
Even having travelled to England, there was still content to capture: players are permitted to film and create content on the golf course during practice days, and he had two different people following him for filming purposes. But clearly he was lucky: fellow YouTuber in the field James Nicholas was not given accreditation for his social media team.
Learning the links
Links golf is an entirely different skillset. Birkdale, as Justin Rose put it earlier this week, is a different course every time you play it, because of changing weather conditions and swirling winds. This year, the fairways have been turned brown by consecutive heatwaves and the rough has been burnt dry and wispy. This is not the thick, green lush rough of Car-nasty.
Even the greens have been kept relatively receptive by watering, but this is still a much different test of golf from the one DeChambeau will have found at LIV events in Spain or Korea, or indeed the US Open last month.
So 300-yard shots will not sit down – something caddie Greg Bodine had trouble explaining to his player when they were eyeing up the fifth green.
You can always rely on @brysondech for some creativity.A 3-wood bump-and-run from 150 yards on the 11th hole, and he finds the green.Watch Live At The Range: t.co/bmcm7IR0hN@HSBC_Sport | #LiveAtTheRange pic.twitter.com/H9dYsuGtgn
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 15, 2026The remodelled fifth is still a drivable par-4 at 321 yards, but with an upturned saucer of a green that is surrounded by bunkers, and DeChambeau hit a three-wood off the tee that drilled into the bank of one.
If only it had carried a few more yards, DeChambeau suggested, before his caddie pointed out it would have landed and flown through the green – as it would at all links courses. DeChambeau seemed baffled, and bombed another one down there, and sure enough it ran through the green.
Three-time Open champion Nick Faldo summed it up: “DeChambeau has zero clue of strategy.”
He hates the redesign
There have been some significant renovations to the golf course at Royal Birkdale. The R&A insists these changes were driven by the members of the club, but the unspoken reality is that this course is trying to protect itself from the modern golfer.
DeChambeau, with his 3D-printed clubs and scientific approach, might be the most modern golfer there is – and he does not like the changes, which include a number of remodelled (read: lumpier) greens and a brand new hole, the par-three 15th.
“Whoever redid this golf course… should not be doing golf courses,” he told his caddie at one point.
But everyone plays the same golf course and you have to learn the best way to play it. DeChambeau is hoping that learning curve is steep and he can finally make the weekend at a major this year.
Hence then, the article about i followed bryson dechambeau for two days his behaviour surprised me was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( I followed Bryson DeChambeau for two days – his behaviour surprised me )
Also on site :
- ‘Motor City’ Review: Potsy Ponciroli’s Audacious Thriller — a Scorsese Opera without Dialogue — Announces the Arrival of a Startling Voice
- Skating Legend, Who Entered the 1988 Winter Olympics as an Underdog, Delivered One of Figure Skating's Greatest Routines
- Wide-Leg Capri Pants Are a Summer 2026 Wardrobe Staple, and You Can Snag a Pair for Just $10 at Amazon