Bryson DeChambeau talks Open Championship strategy after Faldo's comments
Bryson DeChambeau declined to speak to TV and print reporters at the 154th Open Championship but did take questions from an R&A media official after carding a 3-under 67 at Royal Birkdale on Thursday. The two-time major winner put a lot of emphasis on "strategy" in his answers after Nick Faldo said earlier in the week that DeChambeau didn't have any when it comes to playing links courses.
Video Transcript
But comes right back here at the 16th, lays up off of the tee, 149 yards in, and a little punch.
Now, this is what's sort of plagued him to the first three major championships this year when he's missed the cut.
He has really struggled with his iron play, but not today.
That was gorgeous.
A little soft cut into that right-to-left wind.
Moving on to the par 5.
He normally eats par 5s for breakfast.
This is his third shot from just off the edge of the green.
Very well navigated up and around with quite a bit of break there.
So a comfortable tap in there for birdie to get to 4 under.
And coming home at the 18th, one of the harder fairways to hit, one of the hardest holes on the golf course.
Out of the thick stuff again.
And it always looks like you're going to catch a flyer out of that stuff, but surprisingly, some of them were stopping.
But not this one.
This one's got a lot of giddy up in it.
Off the back of the green.
And from there, he would give one back.
So finish somewhat disappointing for him.
67 on the board.
He was solid at the U.S. Open.
Opening round, tied 17th with 70.
Then played poorly on day number two.
So you see it.
MCMC MC.
Now, Bryson declined to meet with the assembled media.
That's the fifth straight major round he's opted out.
He did provide quotes to an official and did the RNA's in-house show live on the range.
Before we play you that, it's important for context to see what Sir Nick Faldo said last week on a podcast.
Faldo's part of the Sky Sports commentary team this week.
Bryson declined to do the customary one-on-one interview with them.
Faldo, a three-time Open champ, and on the pod he said the following.
I'd say it to his face, DeChambeau has zero clue of strategy.
He said last year I'm going to go out and attack the links.
Well, I've never attacked a links.
You thread it, don't you?
You feed it down the fairway.
So here's Bryson on that RNA show after his round today talking to George Harper Jr. Yeah, talk us through the course.
Obviously, it's running super fast at the moment, but what did you find out after playing a competitive round with card in hand?
You know, I think you've got to be a lot more strategic out on the golf course, and I feel like I did a really good job today of being incredibly strategic and focused super hard in placing it in the right places.
Besides 18, I placed the ball in some good areas, but just need to hit more fairways.
Other than that, I felt like my strategy was nice today.
Yeah, as a group, you've all had a relatively good day.
Do you think that standard will stay for the afternoon, and the wind seems to be picking up a little bit for you boys?
I think so.
It's difficult to say what's going to happen.
You never know out here.
What I can say is there's a lot of good scores, so we're all playing pretty well, and I like it when the test is hard and difficult, and it definitely makes for a fun championship.
Anytime you get off to a great start, it's awesome, but there's three more days, dude, so there's still a lot of golf to be played, but ultimately, from my perspective, I was really excited about the way I played, and it was fun playing with Scotty, seeing how good he strikes the ball.
I mean, that's something that I've wanted to play with him for a while now, and seeing how he struck the ball today was beautiful and makes me think, oh, man, okay, I've got to work on my driving and three-wood a little bit better because I can hit it farther than him, but the man sometimes doesn't go straight, so.
Does that help you maybe lift a little bit when you play with the best player in the world?
Definitely.
It's a good gauge, right?
It tells me kind of where my game's at.
It shows him or shows me where he's at, and it's good to see it in person.
You always see it on TV, but it's just a little different sometimes when you're right there.
That's why it's cool for people to be out here to see what Scotty and myself and Tyrrell can do and everybody out here.
It's a great bunch of guys, and it was fun to play today.
How much do you love the Open, mate?
What would it mean to keep this form going because you look like you're having so much fun out there?
I'm having a lot of fun, and, you know, if I can keep it going and give the crowd something to cheer for on Sunday, that's all I can ask for.
