​Bryson DeChambeau heads into The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale aiming to make the cut for the first time this season at a major. This has been a dismal major campaign for DeChambeau, especially after a month of high hopes following his wins in the final two LIV Golf events before The Masters. Yet he has failed to reach the weekend in any of the first three majors of the year.
Historically, The Open has not been a strong venue for DeChambeau. It is the only major where he has never finished inside the top five, and one of his rare top-10 showings at the event came when he had already squandered his chances on Thursday, the highlight coming from last year’s Royal Portrush edition. With a fourth missed cut of 2026 looking far more likely than a third major title for the 32-year-old, the outlook is less than ideal. This comes as he seeks every edge possible while his contract winds down and LIV Golf’s long-term future remains unresolved.
DeChambeau remains a colossal figure in today’s game, one of the few players to break through into the mainstream as a two-time US Open champion. After a strong 2025, in which he contended in three of the four majors and appeared to be on the cusp of winning The Masters after flirtations at Augusta on his two prior visits, his standing has shifted. He even argued that penalties should not apply if he returned to the PGA Tour because of what he would bring to his former circuit—a controversial stance, but it underscored how valuable his presence would have been on the PGA Tour.
Nevertheless, his stock has fallen markedly since then. The PGA Tour’s position in the ongoing landscape appears to be dominant, with LIV Golf no longer holding sway in the way it once did. Those dynamics give the established tour the upper hand, and the next couple of weeks could complicate DeChambeau’s situation even further.
The Scottish Open is set to feature many of the PGA Tour’s elite names, including Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. Yet LIV stars such as Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton will also compete at the Renaissance Club. It promises to be arguably the strongest field outside of the majors this year, and DeChambeau will not be part of it. A solid performance in Scotland could signal the PGA Tour’s confidence that it can prosper without him and reduce the incentive to bend over backward to lure him back.
If DeChambeau struggles at Royal Birkdale, it would intensify the blow as he faces a pivotal period when his leverage over his future grows slimmer while crucial career decisions loom. He remains a perpetual figure in the game, but his current position has become notable more for its SEO value than for the on-course impact he once wielded. The coming fortnight could be decisive in shaping the trajectory of his career, as he navigates uncertain contracts and a shifting professional landscape.