​Bryson DeChambeau kept a low profile coming into this week’s 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. He still got some press, though, thanks to six-time major winner Nick Faldo.Negative press, that is. Faldo harshly criticized DeChambeau during a podcast interview, specifically over Bryson’s lack of strategy when playing links golf.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn Thursday on a baked-out Birkdale, DeChambeau put on a show to charge into contention early. After his round, the two-time U.S. Open champ subtly returned fire at Faldo, using the former TV analyst’s words against him.Heading into this week’s Open, DeChambeau had played three majors in 2026… and missed three cuts. When Faldo was asked about Bryson’s major struggles on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast this week, he called it a “Rough Slam.”When the topic of DeChambeau’s chances at the Open came up, Faldo didn’t hold back with his criticism.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“He has — I’d say it to his face — he has zero clue of strategy,” Faldo told host Jamie Weir. “I mean, he said it last year and then I think on TV, ‘I’m going to go out and attack the links.’ Well, I’ve never attacked a links. You thread it, don’t you? You feed it down the fairway, it’s really important.”He didn’t stop there. News ‘Zero clue of strategy’: Nick Faldo unloads on Bryson DeChambeau at Open Championship ‘Zero clue of strategy’: Nick Faldo unloads on Bryson DeChambeau at Open Championship By: Kevin Cunningham“You don’t think, ‘I’ll just bomb it down there, can’t see where I’m going, it’s 20 yards wide.’ Oh yeah, good luck. You’ve got to think, ‘How do I get it on the short grass?’ It’s so important,” Faldo continued. “He’ll stand up and just keep bombing away… but you can be completely blocked out on a links.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe fact that DeChambeau finished T10 at last year’s Open at Royal Portrush made Faldo’s comments curious at the time. DeChambeau’s performance on Thursday made them look even worse.Teeing off in the morning alongside Scottie Scheffler and Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson opened with back-to-back birdies. He kept it together all day long, making three more birdies against two bogeys to finish with a 67.The hot start left DeChambeau at three under and two shots off the early lead.DeChambeau skipped a traditional press conference after his round, and instead agreed to a quick R&A interview with no other reporters present.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“It was a hard-fought battle out there. The wind was switching quite a bit. It was fun seeing a lot of the fans going at us, and they were rooting for all of us. It was fun just seeing the ups and downs of the group, but we all played pretty well. It was a lot of fun,” he began. “There’s just some driving holes out there I’ve got to work on. Other than that, I played really well. Made some good putts. I three-p