FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — It is just past 3 p.m. on Tuesday of Ryder Cup week, and the mostly-empty driving range at Bethpage State Park has transformed into a stage.
The spectacle is standing room only, taking place on the far left side of the range where a red-faced Bryson DeChambeau is launching balls into the Long Island sky in search of the magic number: 200 mph ball speed. There seems to be no obvious purpose to this quest beyond what DeChambeau is hyperaware of as he does it: the crowd around him wants to see it.
“Rory can’t do that, Bryson!” a fan calls out.
“I heard he’s nervous!” shouts another. 191.
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This is what DeChambeau’s stump speech looks like, his every lash at the ball a type of creed he knows how to propagate. 193. With a giant screen left of the range showing exactly how far and fast each ball is going, there’s drama in every swing. 196. The congregation only gets louder. A “USA” chant begins. At one point, a smiling J.J. Spaun walks over to DeChambeau and joins in.
“Come on, show me something,” Spaun says. DeChambeau doesn’t respond. He just swings again. 198. 199.
The two-time U.S. Open winner isn’t just leaning into it all; he’s feeding off of it, determined to give them what they want. DeChambeau lets another one rip and the recoil nearly knocks him off his feet. 200 mph. 361-yard carry. Turning back toward the crowd, he flashes a wry smile and shrugs.
“Bryson, this is his arena,” Xander Schauffele said. “If he views himself as a gladiator golfer, this is as good as it gets.”
This will be the third Ryder Cup that Bryson DeChambeau has played in. Harry How/Getty Images
The Ryder Cup presents a unique scenario: DeChambeau’s persona — call it antics, histrionics, showmanship or an acquired taste — is tailor-made for this week. The sport’s most dramatic event presents a setting that allows DeChambeau to be the most unabashed version of himself, a combination of towering thespian and crowd-pleasing rock star. Could that translate to a winning formula?
“I was telling Keegan, I feel like Bryson could be like the difference for us, in a strange way, from the standpoint of feeding into these fans, the style of golf he plays,” Schauffele said. “I think his points might hit harder than my points.”
When DeChambeau stepped up to the first tee at Whistling Straits in 2021 and drove the green, the way in which he ignited the crowd and went on to win that match is remembered with fondness to this day.
Since that dominant 19-9 American victory, that kind of frenzy around DeChambeau has only skyrocketed. Despite leaving for LIV in 2022 and not being on the 2023 Ryder Cup team that lost in Rome, his popularity was at an all-time high after winning the 2024 U.S. Open and continuing to appeal to fans online with his YouTube channel.
It’s no secret that DeChambeau takes every opportunity to promote and mention YouTube and how, in his mind, it has both helped his game and helped this notion of “growing the game.” But this character pivot — this evolution — to some, feels inauthentic and self-centered.
“Bryson plays most of his golf on a tour where he mostly could be in the witness protection program,” Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said Monday during the network’s coverage of the Ryder Cup. “Nobody watches, he doesn’t get any attention. So when he does come out, there’s a bit of a circus-barker element to it to drum up some interest for himself.”
Other players have bristled at his approach in the past (see: Brooks Koepka) or in the present, including Rory McIlroy, who did not speak to DeChambeau at the Masters when they paired together for the final round. Recently, DeChambeau said that he would be “chirping in [Rory’s] ear” this week at Bethpage. McIlroy’s response?
“I think the only way he gets attention is by mentioning other people,” he said.
Whether it’s real or facetious, whether you like it or not, or whether it’s for attention or self-satisfaction, there’s no doubt that DeChambeau has become an exhibitionist who plays the part well. This version of DeChambeau — the swashbuckling, raucous, people-pleasing, gallery-interacting, I’ll-sign-autographs-until-my-hand-falls-off version of him — projects a vibe that, depending on which side you’re rooting for, can come off as either exhilarating or grating.
“I’ve always enjoyed Bryson,” the typically temperate Russell Henley said. “Explosive is a great word for how he plays … I think we operate a lot differently on the golf course, and he plays a much different game than I do.”
In some ways, Bryson’s approach is antithetical to the way golf, especially 72-hole stroke play golf, has come to be. Most players are normally quiet, keeping to themselves throughout a round while avoiding showing any emotion, good or bad. DeChambeau often processes, feels and reacts out loud and through his body language. Watching him chart his way around a golf course by smashing 340-yard drives and hitting irons that are all the same length is impossibly compelling. Now, throw match play and playing for team and country into the mix, and DeChambeau’s method suddenly becomes a rare commodity.
Bryson DeChambeau finished T-10 or better in three of four majors this season. ERIK S LESSER/EPA/Shutterstock
“His golfing ability alone is an X factor for our team, but also, he’s a really fiery player,” U.S. team captain Keegan Bradley said. “When you come to a Ryder Cup, you don’t want guys to try to be something they’re not. We have a lot of calm, mellow guys, so we need the energy from Bryson, and he brings that every day.”
In a team event with just two sides and one goal, the Americans are far more inclined to embrace everything that comes with the DeChambeau experience. It helps that, all week and even going back to the Ryder Cup boot camp in Napa, players have praised DeChambeau for the effort he has put in to be around the team despite playing on a different tour.
“He’s made every effort possible and been incredible in the team room,” Bradley said.
And yet managing that energy he brings is crucial too. Despite the fact that he and this event feel like a match made in heaven, his record is a middling 2-3-1 and 0-2 in foursomes. The decision of who DeChambeau will play with has been highly anticipated. Chamblee called him a “captain’s nightmare” and an “odd duck” in reference to Bradley’s task of finding a match for him, while Scottie Scheffler, who paired with him in 2021, called him a “great partner.”
Through three days of practice rounds, DeChambeau has played alongside the same three players: Ben Griffin, Cam Young and Justin Thomas. Griffin, in particular, has made a lot of sense as a partner: a rookie bursting with confidence who may be able to draft off the way DeChambeau interacts with the crowd.
“I hope I can bring a lot of energy and a tsunami of a crowd that’s going to be rooting for Team USA,” DeChambeau said after this year’s Open Championship.
Glimpses of what that dance is going to look like are starting to show themselves. As he has stalked the grounds at Bethpage, DeChambeau has, more so than normal, engaged fans at every turn. On Tuesday, after finishing a nine-hole practice round, he strutted over to the first tee and it was as if someone began to turn up the volume of the crowd.
Bryson DeChambeau tees off on No. 1 during a Ryder Cup practice round. Michael Reaves/PGA of America via Getty Images
DeChambeau took out his driver and lined up aimed right toward Bethpage Black’s first green, which is hidden by a small forest of trees in the distance. He hit five balls at full speed, asking assistant captain Gary Woodland and other U.S. team staffers — who had a spotter by the green — if the ball had made it. DeChambeau hit another.
“Give the people what they want!” one fan yelled. He asked for one more ball.
After a pause, it seemed DeChambeau might be done, but he gave the crowd a small glimpse, raised his eyebrow and then a single index finger as if to ask permission to hit another. The noise hit a crescendo again as if a band had just come back on stage for an encore.
“Are you not entertained?” another fan asked.
The carry number they needed, DeChambeau’s caddie Greg Bodine later shared, was 360 yards. Only one of DeChambeau’s seven shots made it onto the front edge of the green, but it almost didn’t matter, especially to those who witnessed it. The showman had given the Tuesday crowd its show. Come Friday, as the United States will try to harness his energy, DeChambeau’s show will only get bigger.
“The people love him,” Scheffler said. “I’m excited to unleash him this week.”
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