The Open Championship: Bryson DeChambeau fires back at his critics with a sizzling start
The Open Championship: Bryson DeChambeau fires back at his critics with a sizzling start
Jay BusbeeThu, July 16, 2026 at 3:25 PM UTC
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Sometimes it's best to let your clubs do the talking. After months of questioning his desire and second-guessing his every action, Bryson DeChambeau answered his many critics the most effective way possible: by torching Royal Birkdale on the first day of The Open Championship.
Only a late bogey on 18 kept DeChambeau from holding a share of the clubhouse lead. He finished the day at -3, one stroke off the lead, in an effective counterpoint to critics like Nick Faldo, who accused him of having "zero clue" how to play links golf.
DeChambeau rolled into this season a favorite to add to his career major total of two. Instead, he missed the cut at the first three majors, stumbled through a professional crisis as his home league (LIV Golf) crumbled around him, and generally looked more lost than at any time since his first U.S. Open win in 2020.
That was red meat to his critics, who happily piled on the part-time YouTube golfer.
"I'd say it to his face — he has zero clue of strategy," Faldo, a three-time Open champion, said earlier in the week. "He said it last year, I think on TV, he said, 'I'm going to go out an attack the links.' Well, I've never 'attacked' a links."
Well, if DeChambeau didn't necessarily "attack" the links, he didn't sit back and hope they behaved, either. He was aggressive off the tee and deft around the green, opening his round with two birdies and finishing with five total. His touch on a baked Birkdale was, at times, immaculate:
After his round, DeChambeau continued his recent trend of declining to speak to the media, even though this was by far his most successful Thursday of the year. He did speak with the R&A's on-scene reporter, who asked a bunch of questions about his round, but nothing in relation to the criticism he's received heading into the tournament.
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""I think you've got to be a lot more strategic out on the golf course," he said, a comment which, if you want to read between the lines, could be veiled shot at Faldo. "I feel like I did a really good job today of being incredibly strategic and focused super hard on placing it in the right places.
"Besides 18, I placed the ball in some good areas. I just need to hit more fairways. Other than that, I feel like my strategy was nice today"
One of DeChambeau's many problems in the first three majors of the year: slow and inconsistent starts. As Justin Ray noted on X, DeChambeau minimized his bogeys, improved his greens in regulation, and actually gained strokes around the green, as compared to his first three major Thursdays this year:
DeChambeau is playing alongside Scottie Scheffler, a guy who knows a thing or two about major championship golf.
"It's a good gauge, right?" DeChambeau said of being grouped with Scheffler, the world No. 1. "It tells me kind of where my game's at. Also shows me where he's at. 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."
DeChambeau will now tee off on Friday at 10:04 a.m. Eastern Time … plenty of time for those who doubted him to offer up an apology.
Source: “AOL Sports”
