Bryson DeChambeau put himself right in contention through two rounds at LIV Golf Adelaide, hanging on with apparently his B-plus game. But the two-time major winner was adamant his best golf is right around the corner.
DeChambeau’s 67 on Day 2 at The Grange Golf Club elevated him to 11 under par, two shots behind Jon Rahm after 36 holes. Rahm, New Zealand’s Ben Campbell (second at 12 under) and Talor Gooch (T-5 at nine under) all shot nine-under 63s on a windy and hot afternoon in Adelaide. Anthony Kim was fourth at 10 under.
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“Three nine-unders today? Wow, I suck,” DeChambeau joked after his round Friday.
He doesn’t. But even if he feels stuck in fourth gear, DeChambeau said there were positive signs during the first two LIV events of the year as he becomes arguably the most watched player in the league after the departure of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed.
“Overall, I’ve played some solid golf,” DeChambeau said, adding his wedges and irons have room for improvement. “I’m seeing stuff that I haven’t seen as early in a year in the past four or five years. I’m seeing some great lines and feel comfortable over putts, some testers, comfortable over wedges and comfortable over shots that are really difficult. To be feeling this good early on in the season is a great sign.”
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Where does his optimism come from? DeChambeau revealed he moved his entire off-season training forward two months.
“[I’ve done] a lot of work in the off-season; I started earlier this year,” said DeChambeau, whose only win of 2025 was LIV Golf Korea. “I started November speed training, so I got that kind of out of my system. Last year I was prepping and doing some speed training in January. It delayed my [peak] speed until the middle of the year and cost me a couple months. So I changed that this year, and it’s implemented some nice changes, and I feel really fast. Almost too fast in a sense … sometimes. So my iron play is a little not on point.”
If the usually long-hitting DeChambeau lacked clubhead speed in the first half of 2025, it didn’t show at the majors. The Californian played in the final group at the Masters with winner McIlroy and his T-5 was actually a genuine chance to steal the show at Augusta National. DeChambeau was then T-2 at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, his second straight runner-up in the event. He missed the cut during the U.S. Open at Oakmont but, a month later, recovered from a poor start at Royal Portrush in the Open Championship to finish T-10.
The 32-year-old also noted his off-season work included a development with Sportsbox AI, an AI-powered golf training platform that turns a phone video into a detailed 3D swing model with biomechanical measurements. DeChambeau is a Sportsbox AI ambassador.
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“I think [my early-year confidence] just comes from practicing a little earlier and getting with my coach Dana [Dahlquist] and working hard with Sportsbox a lot,” he said. “It’s been fun working with Sportsbox. We’re about to unveil something pretty special with AI so I’m pumped about it. It’ll be incredibly helpful in dire times of need, to be even more specific than pretty much any coach out there. I love Dana; Dana is working with it [too]. It’s great. But I can’t wait to have that here soon. It’s right on the cusp of changing the game of golf from an instruction standpoint. I’m really pumped about that. I’ve been using that and really working on my sequencing for speed and also alignment of the face, and it’s done pretty well. But just got to dial it in.”
An AI breakthrough wasn’t the only thing DeChambeau teased, hinting that a possible equipment change was coming—specifically for his iron play—in coming months.
“Man, I’ve got something coming that I can’t wait to have,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll have it for [LIV Golf] Hong Kong [in March] and that three-week stint, and it’ll be something that greatly improves my iron play and wedges. We’ll see. You never know.”
For now, DeChambeau is hoping to ignite the Australian crowds at LIV’s flagship event in a showdown with fellow two-time major winner, Rahm, or others.
“If I can keep rolling it well and hitting my irons and wedges a little bit better, I think I’ll give myself a shot this weekend and put some pressure on Jon coming down the stretch,” he said.
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