Augusta, Georgia
CNN
—
Every golfer is chasing the elation of a major tournament victory, but Bryson DeChambeau has found something that almost compares: Sinking a hole-in-one over his house.
Last November, the reigning and two-time US Open champion embarked on a wildly entertaining challenge. He lined the ball up in his driveway and launched it blind over the roof, hoping it would find its way into the bottom of the cup on the green in his back yard. On the first day, he allowed himself one shot, the next day, saying, “This is ridiculous,” he took two swings, and so on, until his 14th shot on the 16th day.
On his 134th attempt, when he finally made it, DeChambeau ran whooping onto the green. He rolled on the turf, picked out the ball, kissed it and threw it into the air, shouting, “Let’s go, baby!”
Asked by CNN to compare the joy of a major victory with this most unusual accomplishment, DeChambeau smiled.
“I was definitely excited! I had the adrenaline running through my body, chills in my body, because I knew it was going to be a cool piece of content,” he explained. “Not as cool as winning a major championship, but it’s up there. I’d say it’s 90% there.”
Millions of fans had been following his challenge, which went viral online. They’d witnessed agonizingly close calls at the end of the first week and four days later they saw the ball hit the lip on one occasion and bounce out of the hole on another, as DeChambeau discovered another way to share his love of the game with the world.
When he burst onto the scene in 2015, DeChambeau was known as the Golf Scientist. A physics major from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, he seemed to be obsessed with finding an original way to succeed in the game. In 2015, he became only the fifth player to win both the NCAA and US Amateur titles in the same year, joining the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in an elite group of legendary achievers.
Once on the PGA Tour, everybody was keen to peek into his golf bag to see the iron set that he’d engineered to be all the same length, and he’d share stories about dunking his balls in salt water to check that they’d been correctly balanced. But the curiosity in him became uncomfortable when he was criticized for slow play and a feud developed with compatriot Brooks Koepka.
By 2019, DeChambeau had become a polarizing figure in the game and – despite winning the US Open Championship in 2020 – he endured further stinging judgement when he left the PGA Tour and joined LIV two years later.
Speaking to the media ahead of his ninth Masters appearance, DeChambeau admitted that he’d been hurt by the criticism earlier in his career.
“I was very sensitive to it,” he said. “There was a time where it was definitely more difficult to hear. I think as time has gone on, you realize that we’re all human and it’s OK if somebody has a perspective. You just try to show through your actions what you’re doing for this great game of golf.”
“I don’t want to be just known for winning a bunch of tournaments,” he added, “I want to be known for entertaining and inspiring and hopefully growing the game in some capacity. That’s all I focus on now.”
So, DeChambeau sought to take control of his own image, launching a YouTube channel to engage with his fans and showcase his personality. Three years later, he’s posted almost 200 videos, which have been viewed almost 300 million times.
On the hallowed grounds of Augusta National, DeChambeau at first seemed reluctant to discuss his role as a content creator, but he said that he’d be interested in shooting segments about the history of arguably the most revered golf course in the world. But the thought has crossed his mind that maybe his video content has become a distraction for his day job as a competitive golfer.
“There are times I’ve gotten a little overzealous and been like, ‘Wow, I need to focus on my game a little bit,’” he said. “But sometimes the content I create actually helps me focus for the next week.”
DeChambeau admits that if he’s shooting a quirky challenge with an economy set of clubs from Amazon or Walmart it won’t help him before a major tournament, but if the whole point of a video feature is to shoot a low score, then it probably will aid his preparation.
“I’ve got to absolutely play my best golf if I’m going to break the course record,” he said, “So it gets me in that mentality. I’m really strategizing and planning what’s going to work best for me. But I certainly love it, I won’t stop. I’ll continue to do it because I think it’s hopefully inspiring for people.”
In the meantime, DeChambeau returns to his day job this week as a serious tournament player. Despite now being a multiple-time major champion, he says he gets nervous during the competition, but he still finds joy in such pressured situations. And if he can triumph in The Masters, he’ll have a new green jacket to wear in his videos for the next 12 months. You can bet the house on it.
