Bryson DeChambeau’s dreams of claiming his first Green Jacket in 2026 appear to be over before his tournament really began.
The two-time US Open winner, who held the lead on Sunday at last year’s Masters, shot an opening round 76 to fall to four-over par through 18 holes.
He looked wildly out of control with his irons for the first time all year, missing greens left, right and centre, and his play out of the bunkers was abysmal. That’s usually a strength of his, so it was jarring to see DeChambeau fail to get the ball out of the sand on 11.
DeChambeau was one of the favourites entering The Masters, having won the last two LIV Golf events, so he was understandably disappointed after the round.
Bryson DeChambeau says what was ‘weird’ about his opening round at The Masters
DeChambeau took two shots to get out of the greenside bunker on the 11th hole on his way to a triple bogey. That totally derailed his round. He was asked what happened on the hole, and he explained, “Bunker was softer than I anticipated.”
He then explained what happened on his approach shot from the fairway, which left him in the bunker in the first place: “The ball flew 12 yards farther than I wanted it to. I had a good shot.”
The American was asked if he needed to change his approach and play more aggressively moving forward to get back into the tournament, and he said, “Just going to give what the golf course gives me. I have to try to hit my irons better. I drove it left numerous occasions.
“Did a great job on 18. Wind didn’t hurt it like we thought, and that’s this game. That’s the golf course. You know, everybody has an ability for weird things to happen, and today I just did not have my irons under control, which is weird. It’s been good coming into it, so…”
Bryson DeChambeau says how his 3D-printed 5-iron was during round one of The Masters
DeChambeau 3D printed his 5-iron for this year’s Masters, and he was asked how the club treated him during Thursday’s play.
He said, “Good. It was great on seven. Hit a good second shot. Wind didn’t hit it off the left. Irons are still something I have to work on.”
He said how long it took to make: “Prints in eight hours. Machines, they’re three or four hours. Then you have to cut grooves in it and do a bunch of other stuff. So you can have something within a day and a half.”
But DeChambeau can’t exactly print another one out for the weekend. He continued, “It has to be USGA-conforming. There’s a whole process you have to go through.”
DeChambeau likely wants to print out a whole new bag, but instead he’ll have to work on his game for the weekend.
