Captain’s nightmare? Bryson DeChambeau might be the opposite

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — As U.S. Ryder Cup rookie Ben Griffin was practicing chip shots from the rough behind Bethpage Black’s 15th green Tuesday afternoon, one got away from him. High, hot and bound for … Bryson DeChambeau’s dome. The ball could have left a mark (or worse!), but it didn’t. That’s because Griffin’s quick-thinking caddie, Alex Ritthamel, leapt in front of the orb and swatted it out of the air like an NBA center defending the hoop.

“You could have killed him!” a fan barked at Griffin.

Not missing a beat, Griffin deadpanned, “He’s indestructible.”

DeChambeau, his broad shoulders, muscular frame and superhuman tee shots notwithstanding, is, in fact, not indestructible. But his shell has hardened over the years, the result, he’ll tell you, of arriving at a place in his life where he feels like he can express his true self, be that on a golf course, swarmed by autograph-hungry fans or starring in one of his much-watched YouTube videos. “Once I became more authentic to myself,” he said at the U.S. Open in June, “I feel like I became more comfortable.”

Which isn’t to say DeChambeau isn’t still polarizing, and not only because he ditched the PGA Tour for the riches of LIV Golf in 2022. Still hanging over DeChambeau, at least in some circles, are questions about his motives, a reality of which golf fans have been reminded in the run-up to this 45th Ryder Cup. The first barb came from European star Rory McIlroy, who in an interview with the British paper, The Guardian, was asked to respond to DeChambeau’s assertion that he intends to “chirp” McIlroy at Bethpage.    

McIlroy sounded unperturbed, saying that the “only way” DeChambeau stays in the public eye is “by mentioning other people.” McIlroy added, “To get attention he will mention me or Scottie [Scheffler] or others.”

The tit-for-tat continued Monday at the Ryder Cup when DeChambeau, in response to McIlroy’s remarks, told Golf Channel: “All I’m trying to do is inspire kids on YouTube, and we have amassed quite a big audience on YouTube and I’m continuing to focus on that train of thought, and whatever Rory says and whatnot, granted I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m excited. I hope we can have some good banter back and forth.”

Those remarks — we’re almost done here, promise! — in turn caught the ear of Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee, who took out his flamethrower and accused DeChambeau of being more interested in his YouTube channel than he is in the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Chamblee added: “He’s an odd duck when he’s trying to blend in with the team, and he has so many potential bulletin-board mistakes. I think he would be a captain’s nightmare.”

Harsh! But is it true?

Every American player who was asked about DeChambeau’s place on the U.S. team Tuesday went to bat for him. Predictably? Maybe. You would not expect any Ryder Cupper to pick apart a teammate three days before the matches begin. But still, the U.S. team’s feedback on DeChambeau was so universally positive than you couldn’t help but buy into it.

Scottie Scheffler called DeChambeau a “tremendous competitor” and said that “the people love him.” Patrick Cantlay said, “I’m glad he’s on our side. He’s a showman out there. I think he’s going to get the crowd fired up.” Xander Schauffele characterized DeChambeau as a “gladiator golfer,” adding, “I feel like Bryson could be like the difference for us.” 

And U.S. captain Keegan Bradley, whose opinion matters most? He said DeChambeau has been “incredible in the team room,” adding, “We need the energy from Bryson, and he brings that every day.”

DeChambeau certainly did on a warm and breezy Tuesday at Bethpage Black, where he played a nine-hole practice round (10 through 18) with Cameron Young and two of DeChambeau’s likely partners this week, Ben Griffin and Justin Thomas. While his playing partners largely were focused on assessing aim lines and green slopes and club selections, DeChambeau also made time for the galleries. Fist bumps. High fives. Arms waving upward to stoke the cheers. On the 13th green, DeChambeau was greeted by a woman and two young boys perched in the grandstand behind the green. They were holding a homemade sign that read, “Bryson, we skipped school to caddy for you.”

From the galleries’ warm receptions on every tee box and green, you also got the sense more than a few adults played hooky for a glimpse of DeChambeau. However you feel about the guy, he is undeniably the most popular player on the U.S. team. For every cry of “Justin!” or “Cam!”, there were two dozen clamors for Bryson.

It’d be foolish to try and read too much into a nine-hole practice round, but the vibes between DeChambeau and his teammates also seemed sound. After Thomas chipped a ball from the back of the 12th green to within five or six feet of the hole, Griffin assured Thomas the chip was “good enough” because, in foursomes play, DeChambeau would assuredly clean it up. On 18, Thomas and DeChambeau collaborated on a read, and as things were winding down, DeChambeau traversed the green, shaking hands with or patting the shoulder of each of his playing partners.

But DeChambeau’s practice session wasn’t over just yet.

With players, coaches and other hangers-on still milling around the 18th green, he marched to the adjacent 1st tee. There has been speculation about whether DeChambeau will drive the green on the opener, a 430-yard par-4 that plays considerably shorter for players who can muscle their tee shots over the corner of the rightward dogleg. DeChambeau, the tee to himself, put a peg in the ground and blasted a tee shot on the hero line. Then another. And another. And another. The crowds in the towering grandstand that looms over the 18th green and 1st tee were eating it up — and egging him on, with cries of “You got this, Bryson!” and chants of “U-S-A!”

His sixth blast looked to be his last, but then DeChambeau looked up at the grandstand — and with showman cap squarely on — mouthed, “One more?”

Hell, yes, one more!

DeChambeau teed up another, took two waggles and unloaded. As he followed through, he grunted and his driver recoiled. Who knows where the ball went, and who cared?

Friday can’t get here soon enough.