Entering Shinnecock Hills last week, Bryson DeChambeau was a top ten favorite to win his first major of the year. Instead, he went on to miss his third consecutive cut this season. You may blame it on his love for chocolate milk or LIV Golf, but ESPN analyst Mark Schlabach has something else to point the blame at.
“He talked to people around the PGA Tour; he’s the most polarizing,” Schlabach said on The Pat McAfee Show during the U.S. Open week. “Probably, in terms of whether or not they’re going to let him come back. I think there’s definitely going to be a big penalty.
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“There, I was told there are guys in the PGA Tour locker room that have memorized everything negative he’s said about the PGA Tour over the last four or five years. So, there’s obviously a ton of scar tissue when it comes to Bryson. He may be making YouTube videos for some time before he can return.”
With Bryson DeChambeau’s contract coming to an end this year and LIV Golf fighting to stay alive beyond the 2026 season, his performance at Shinnecock Hills reflected a wider struggle. If the breakaway league does cease to exist, DeChambeau would have to return to the American circuit. However, his performances have not made a case for him.
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He opened with an even par 70 on Thursday, but on Friday, he made back-to-back double bogeys on the third and fourth holes, along with four more bogeys through the day. A 5-over-75 left him two shots outside the cut line, and he had to head home early. He didn’t make things easier for himself either.
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He was among the LIV Golf players who joined an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in 2020. Even when the PGA Tour opened the door for a reinstatement through the Returning Member Program in January this year, he refused to join them.
Golf 2026 Masters Tournament – Round 1 Bryson DeChambeau of the USA on hole 2 in Round 1 of the 2026 Masters tournament in August, Georgia, USA, 09 April 2026. Augusta United States PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxINDxONLY Copyright: xCHRISxTORRESx
Recently, while everyone was talking about how LIV’s finances are collapsing, he told reporters the PGA Tour “isn’t doing great,” either. He backed his comments with reduced field sizes, staff cuts, and internal restructuring. He also called out the PGA Tour for not being open with their media rights, citing it as one of the reasons he left the Tour.
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“So, if I were to film a video during the week of one of their events with a content creator or somebody, a celebrity or whatnot, that would be in violation, and, from my knowledge, they didn’t let me do it when I was on there. I asked numerous times,”DeChambeau told Garrett Johnston.
Even though the rules were coincidentally changed a few days later, he remained silent. He talked to agents around the PGA Tour for a potential return when he was around for the Masters. But when he got no proper response, he floated a completely different route to continue his presence in the golfing world.
Speaking on the Katie Miller Podcast, he was candid that if LIV fails, he would prefer to grow his YouTube channel, suggesting that he is considering leaving professional golf and focusing solely on social media. The response from fans was largely skeptical, with many pointing out that his social media would not survive a day without his professional golf. His channel usually focuses on tours and inside glimpses that fans are eager to see.
But Bryson is a favorite among the younger fans. And that’s exactly what golf is largely missing today. Whether the PGA Tour is willing to look past years of criticism and if DeChambeau repairs the relationship remains unclear. But even then, it is not hard to see why everyone on the Tour still and will continue to have some scar tissue against DeChambeau.
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The post ‘Memorized Everything Negative’: Bryson DeChambeau Became a Target of PGA Tour Locker-Room Talk, Says Analyst appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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