​Bryson DeChambeau opened The Open Championship with a superb 67 on Thursday, a strong reply to Sir Nick Faldo after the Englishman launched a scathing critique of the LIV Golf star earlier in the week. The 32-year-old American arrived in form and produced brilliant golf on day one, though the task ahead remains substantial. After the first round, DeChambeau sat just two shots behind the leader, with many not expecting him to perform so well, especially Faldo, who has publicly questioned DeChambeau’s approach to linksy courses. A photo by Kate McShane/R&A captures the moment as DeChambeau entered the second round in the mix.
Earlier in the week, Faldo criticized DeChambeau for what he described as a lack of thought in handling links layouts. “Unbelievable. That’s a whole part of the story how they’re superstars at LIV and then come over and can’t do it. That’s a whole other story, and then they go back to being superstars. I’d say it to his face, he has zero clue or strategy,” Faldo stated. He continued, explaining how, in his view, DeChambeau’s method of attacking the course was misguided. “He said last year, ‘I’m going to go out and attack the links.’ I was speechless. I’ve never attacked the links; you thread it. You feed it down the fairway. You look at humps and bumps. If I send it over and feed it in, it nudges back into play. You don’t think, ‘if I just bomb it down there, can’t see where I’m going, it’s 20 yards wide.’ Yeah, good luck.”
On The Golf Channel on Thursday, Brandel Chamblee suggested that DeChambeau’s approach could eventually catch up with him. “Strokes gained data will tell you that he drove the ball beautifully, but I would say he is playing with fire as it relates to his driving off the tee,” Chamblee warned.
Paul McGinley weighed in as well, defending DeChambeau. “Yeah, you know, I would just go back to the comments of Nick Faldo about him not having strategy. He does have a strategy,” the Irishman asserted. “Nick comes from a different era. Nick was a massive strategist, and how he played was very coy, threading himself through these bunkers. He’s a three-time Open champion. This guy knows how to play links golf. But if you fast-forward to this modern game, at the very top, the style of bombing the ball off the tee, you find Bryson DeChambeau. So it’s not apples with apples in how he sees the game compared to how Nick saw it in his day.”
The discussion emphasized that DeChambeau’s strategy hinges on leveraging his formidable driving ability to control the golf course, a tactic that has yielded favorable outcomes, such as his performance on the 10th hole today, where he nearly drove the green, landing pin high and leaving himself an opportunity for birdie. He remains the only player to drive it close enough to the green to set up a birdie chance there, a testament to his aggressive game plan.
In sum, DeChambeau’s opening round showcased a bold, unconventional strategy that aligns with his strengths, drawing both praise and critique from respected voices in the game. As he sits two back, the challenge now is to sustain this high level over the remaining rounds while navigating a course that tests every facet of a modern, power-driven approach.