Bryson DeChambeau's British Open Starts Safely, But Is His Future In Danger?

With his prodigious length and unique mind, Bryson is one of golf's true characters. But he has hitched his wagon to LIV Golf, which could jeopardize future weeks like these.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – The Royal & Ancient Golf Club sent Bryson DeChambeau to the British Open’s first tee at 7:52 a.m. Thursday in a group that included the Yeti of the Ozarks, John Daly. It seemed like a darkly funny joke: Bryson, the game’s scientist, and Daly, whose body is a science experiment. They had never played a competitive round together before. Daly had a skull-and-flower print on his pants and the Hooters logo on his bag, much as Old Tom Morris did. He walks with a near-limp and smokes like it’s good for him. As the group waited on the 5th tee, he told DeChambeau, “I think we’ll be here awhile,” but by the back nine, they were playing slowly enough that they were told to pick up the pace. DeChambeau argued that there were times he had to wait to hit.

And yet … if Daly’s presence was supposed to rattle DeChambeau, it clearly did not. DeChambeau shot an easy 69 that could have been better. He also enjoyed a light banter with Daly.

“He’s such a great guy – I mean, at least to me,” DeChambeau said. “We had a great time out there. A lot of fun.”

Bryson DeChambeau played conservatively for much of his first round and shot 3-under 69 :: Rob Schumacher/USA Today

In an age of Featured Groups, the DeChambeau-Daly-Cameron Tringale group was decidedly not featured. Neither was Brooks Koepka’s, or Patrick Reed’s, or Phil Mickelson’s. Do you detect a pattern here? Nobody will say it, but the R&A would be quite happy if every LIV golfer missed the cut and nobody noticed.

There are two competitions being held simultaneously here this week. One, of course, is the 150th Open Championship, a cool event with a hilariously self-important slogan: Everything Has Led To This. (The invention of the wheel, the discovery of fire, every Ace of Base album – it all Led To This.)

The other competition is for the future of golf. Everything Will Lead to That. The breakaway Saudi government-funded LIV Golf tour is a threat to the game’s structure, and to the values that have driven pro golf for decades. The next year or two – or longer – will feature a long fight between LIV Golf and institutions that want to squeeze the air out of it.

We don’t know how it will play out. But the dynamics are starting to take shape. Based on what I have seen at last month’s U.S. Open and this week’s British, fans have generally embraced LIV golfers. Governing bodies have not. They are almost certainly going to use whatever tools they have – including some we haven’t really considered – to push LIV golfers to the fringe.

Royal & Ancient Golf Club chief executive Martin Slumbers said this week, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” Banning players, he said, is “not on our agenda. But what is on our agenda is that we will review our exemptions and qualifications criteria for the Open. And whilst we do that every year, we absolutely reserve the right to make changes … players have to earn their place in the Open.”

Slumbers also sits on the committee that decides Official World Golf Rankings. If LIV Golfers can’t earn world ranking points, their path to participate in majors narrows considerably. This would open the governing bodies to legal risk, but win or lose, lawsuits tend to take a long time. The R&A, USGA and PGA of America could slow-play LIV Golf to death.

What is on the table? Who knows? The bodies could try to force non-exempt LIV golfers to go through qualifying to compete in majors – then schedule qualifying during LIV events. They could change their qualification criteria, and if they lose it in court, change the criteria again and make LIV take them back to court. When LIV players do qualify, they could get disadvantageous tee times. Assign time slots for practice and give LIV golfers the worst ones. Do anything to make them uncomfortable and get them in a bad headspace.

This all might sound far-fetched. But look at what is already happening. Phil Mickelson, the 2013 Open Champion and one of the best golfers of the last half-century, was not welcome at the past champions dinner. Greg Norman – a two-time Open champion – was not welcome anywhere near the course.

As it is, LIV golfers know that the two best living players, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, disapprove of their actions. DeChambeau said Thursday that “I respect everybody’s opinions,” and he seemed unbothered. But this is also somebody who used to don the kind of cap Ben Hogan wore as a nod to him, and has said – sincerely, I believe – that he wants to inspire people and that he values golf history.

LIV golfers still don’t know what it might feel like to be a pariah. They assumed they could take the money and any initial anger would go away and they could keep doing what they have always done. It is now becoming clear that they are in for a fight.

It is all sad. DeChambeau can be his own worst enemy, but he has always had the potential to learn from his mistakes and be a genuinely fun part of the game. He played a much more conservative game in the first round than we have come to expect, eschewing his driver and using his prodigious length to shoot a low score instead of prove a point. Instead of trying to drive the 351-yard 12th hole, he hit a 3-wood that left him a short wedge shot. There were sighs from the crowd when he pulled an iron from his bag for tee shots, but he kept doing it anyway. On the 455-yard 15th, he hit a 7-iron off the tee. A 7-iron!

“There is no way to bomb and gouge it out this week,” he said.

Did he wrestle with the decision to play it safe?

“No. I’m here to win the golf tournament.”

Daly – longer, relative to his peers, than even DeChambeau is now – called Bryson’s display “a blast to watch.” But how much will we see it?

Nobody really knows. DeChambeau, like other LIV stars, is in a strange place: richer and less marketable than ever. In the fall of 2020, he signed a multiyear sponsorship agreement with DraftKings, which put its logo on his cap. Here we are, less than two years later, and he is no longer wearing a DraftKings logo. Last week, Bridgestone dropped its sponsorship deal with him.

A year ago, DeChambeau famously trashed his Cobra driver, saying it “sucks,” then apologized to Cobra soon after. Now he is talking up his relationship with Bridgestone, which officially severed that relationship. Strange times.

These guys went for the money. They don’t know what the price will be yet.

Mickelson could have spent the rest of his life making millions and basking in applause just for being Phil Mickelson. He could have replaced Nick Faldo on CBS; with his personality and understanding of the game, he could have become one of the best commentators ever. Nicklaus is a prime example of the gilded life that awaited Mickelson. Nicklaus’s famed business career has had some severe downs. Before he won the ‘86 Masters, he said “my company was a mess.” It teetered again in the 1990s. Right now, Nicklaus is being sued by, of all corporations, the Nicklaus Companies. He has always recovered fairly easily because being Jack Nicklaus is a money spout that never shuts off.

Now companies are running from these guys. When this Open ends, you can expect more major sponsorship agreements to end, but probably more golfers to jump to LIV, too. Then the governing bodies will take their next whacks at LIV. The battle for the future of the game has just begun.

More British Open Coverage from SI.com/Morning Read:

> Once Again, Rory McIlroy Out Fast In a Major With a 66 at the British Open
> Phil Mickelson, Asked to Not Participate in 150th British Open Celebrations, Still Enjoying the Week
> In His 20th British Open, Ian Poulter Starts Solid and Blocks Out the Noise
> 2022 British Open Day 1: Scores, Live Updates From the Old Course at St. Andrews
> Tiger Woods Shoots 78 To Start the British Open He Eagerly Awaited> Cameron Young Breaks Out Fast On a Slow Day
> What to Watch in Round 2 at St. Andrews: Wet Weather, More Rory, and Tiger's Battle to Make the Cut
> Watch: Round 1 Recap, Can Tiger Turn It Around?

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