Two-time major winner Bryson Dechambeau gives an interview before trying to emulate his 58 at last years Greenbrier LIV Golf
Bryson, how far we’ve come, how quickly did you expect us to be as far along as we are after only 100 rounds on LIV Golf?
I didn’t know where we would exactly be after 100 rounds, but I can tell you that the ideas behind it, especially when I was having conversations back in 2022 and whatnot with where this was going to go, I expected there to be a lot of progress, but the progress has been amazingly awesome, from everything that we’ve done, everything that each team has individually done, the players, what they’ve done to make this league what it is now today is quite impressive.
As I look at a five-year vision, 10-year vision, I just see this thing exploding here shortly.
When people start to see the true value that we’re bringing, that intrinsic value is only going to exponentiate over the course of time, which is what I’m excited for. I’m waiting for that kind of domino effect, for it to start falling in that cool direction that we see here on our side at LIV, especially with the team aspect.
It feels a lot like — it’s some of the highest level golf but you feel like you have a family out here and some really good friends that can help, I guess you could say, make everybody better.
That’s what I’m excited to see is how that progresses, how it transforms, the sponsors that come in, the people that are a part of it, that want to be a part of it.
For me to see that potential out there, we’ve just got to get after it and get it because it’s all right there for the taking, and I’m super excited for these 100 rounds and how they’ve gone.
Obviously I’ve won a couple, and the Crushers have done well, and we’ve won a team championship, and I’m super proud of the guys. That’s what we’ve set out to do.
But we want to keep doing that. We want Paul, Baan, Charles to keep pushing forward and I’ll keep doing my job, and that’s what I’m excited about, and hopefully it pushes these guys on other teams to keep pushing forward, as well.
Let’s talk about that 58 the last time you played here at Greenbrier. This was where you shot 12-under 58, which was the lowest round in LIV Golf history. Your 23 under combined winning total remains the lowest of any LIV Golf champion.
I won’t go too deep into it, but I can tell you that was the day my life changed for the better for sure. Previous to that I had been struggling with my golf game, not really understanding how to get the job done again. It had been a while since I had felt like I had done anything.
Played well at Valderrama, did well at the PGA, but still just didn’t feel like I had it to win.
Coming here last year, I had this new piece of equipment, driver in play that I felt like I was going to be able to hit a lot straighter, and ultimately that was a massive different for me in order to be more comfortable on the golf course, hit it straighter with the distance I had.
It was going far and straight, and just having some wedges into greens and having a good wedge game that week and making a lot of putts. Everything lined up finally again the way I’ve seen it do in the past.
That’s what jump started me to how I’ve been playing this past year, jump started me to winning the U.S. Open this year and continuing to play some really stellar golf.
I just can’t be more excited that this was the place it started at because I’ve always loved it. It’s always had a place in my heart. Shoot, it’s just one of those things you come here and you just feel like it’s home, and that’s what I felt like last year. I was super comfortable.
The 58, I don’t know how to explain it. Just kind of semi-blacked out I guess you could say. It’s one of those moments the last four holes I’m trying to win a tournament, but it started to rain and I just kept focusing on my game.
I didn’t get outside of this bubble that I created for myself and I wanted to focus on hitting the next best shot. I think that’s what really pushed me on to focusing obviously winning the tournament but to shoot in the 50s and then obviously to make the 40-footer on the last hole for 58, that was just the cherry on top.
What a special moment, a special place in my heart forever, and probably the greatest scoring round, if not — it is the greatest scoring round of my life, but probably one of the most special moments of my entire life.
You shot 58, you didn’t make an eagle, you suffered one bogey. Can you foresee a time when maybe you break 58? Is that within the realm of possibility at some point in your career do you think?
Well, I’m trying to break 50 on my YouTube channel. But I can tell you breaking 58, I’m sure someone is going to do it at one of these times at some point.
We’re just too good now. There’s going to be a time where everything kind of lines up. David Duval was one of the first, Al Geiberger was the first, Mr. 59, and then David Duval and others have done it since then, and it’s starting to get a little easier.
It’s like runners breaking I think the 4-minute mile; it was one person that broke it, and the next year there were 12 or whatever or something like that.
I feel like that opens up the door, and with Joaquín shooting 59 this year, you’re just starting to see it more and more. I believe there will be a 57 at some point, even a 56 potentially.
I think a 57 has been potentially shot on other tours before, but it’s going to just get more consistent over the course of time. We’re just too good now, and it’s fun. When you’re in that mindset and you’ve got that, oh, we’re going low and making everything, these guys know, it’s why we do it. It’s why we play golf.
Bryson, you mentioned the Break 50. You’re going to drop another one today. It’s gotten about 20 million views, I think, total, of all the Break 50s that you’ve had. What is it about that particular series that you think has become so popular?
I think first off, it’s a really interesting challenge. Just talking to Phil yesterday about it, he was saying, man, I thought this was going to be a lot easier from the forward tees. I’m like, no, it makes your driving that much more difficult because you’re trying to drive it into a 15-yard area where the green is, and then you’ve got to make eagle — well, if it’s a par-72 you’ve got to make it five times.
You’ve got to make eagle five times, and sometimes there’s not all par-5s out there where you can drive it and hit a wedge up there. The par-3s are the most difficult part of the challenge because you’ve got over 100 yards and you’re trying to get up-and-down for birdie, not an eagle like you would be on a par-5.
He was like, man, I never thought it would be this difficult when we were out there and playing. It was like, yeah, this is the real deal. It’s not a joke. We’re trying to break 50.
It really changes your mindset into the game of golf of there’s plenty of different ways to play the game. You could challenge yourself in numerous ways. This Break 50 challenge is almost impossible to do. It is almost impossible.
Part of the other aspect of it is the content that we’re able to create from it. There’s so many cool unique moments, hitting a golf ball close from the tee, one-liners, whatever it is. It’s an entertainment piece, as well, so you’ve got that content piece of us trying to break 50 and then also the content of us just being who we are, and it showcases our personalities a lot more, and I think that’s what’s so unique and cool about it.
It just exposes golf to a younger generation on YouTube and gets more people involved in the game of golf.
My goal in all of that is to bring viewers, young viewers, to LIV Golf, to the teams, to all of us out here, and I think that’s the main important part of it that a lot of people don’t understand is that it’s trying to reach a new generation of potential golfers. That’s what LIV is doing. That’s what I’m trying to accomplish alongside LIV and with LIV as a partner, as well.
It’s a symbiotic relationship where we can exponentiate the game of golf in a really cool, unique way.
Is there one favourite moment that sticks out in your mind, of all the ones you’re posted?
To be honest, my favourite moment was the first one we actually did. My opinion on that is solely focused on the fact I did it for the first time with Garrett Clark, and we had a chance to do it on the last hole. We just had to chip in for eagle on the last hole and we would have done it at this golf course.
Now, it was a shorter golf course, real easy golf course. You’re hitting irons into a lot of the par-4s. But still, we had a great chance to break 50 on a legitimate golf course.
We didn’t do it, but again, it solidified the fact that while this challenge was real and possible and I want to do it with anyone and everyone that wants to be a part of it. I think that was a really cool moment for that first video we ever did, Garrett Clark.
With this being the penultimate tournament of the season, is it cool to have something where you’re talking about how comfortable the environment is heading into that stretch at the end?
Anytime you get to a place and you feel comfortable, that’s great for any of us. I know Bubba and Patrick, they love this place, as do I. I feel like it’s a comfortable environment, and that only aids to the fact of like going out there and just being in your own game and playing your own game and playing well just because you’re comfortable.
There are times I’ve gone to a golf course and I’m super uncomfortable, and I’m like, why am I uncomfortable. Things aren’t simple; they’re not easy. I’ve got to go through a bunch of hoops to get to the driving range or do this, that, whatever.
It creates some added stress that you don’t need that ultimately could potentially hurt. It doesn’t mean it’s going to, but sometimes you feel uncomfortable and your week doesn’t go the way you planned. Anytime you get that comfort out here, it just allows us to fire and go low.
We touched on 100 rounds of golf being played with LIV and what that’s done over the past few years. Can you speak to the respect level from perhaps the outsiders that’s come along with that and growing LIV but also garnering respect from those that perhaps were doubters at the outset of it?
I mean, I’ll speak to that. I’m staying at a friend’s house this week, and it’s been awesome to see the change from individuals around the community around here. Not only the respect but the understanding. I think there’s a difference of understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish. It’s not a one-off thing or whatnot. It is here to stay, and we’re here to provide great entertainment, here to inspire, and hopefully educate people on a new format that is going to keep them interested throughout every single shot that we hit.
I think that’s what’s so cool and the impact we can make in the community, too, seeing how much we have done for Greenbrier and been able to help out this community on a whole ‘nother level is what LIV is all about.
With your success, do you have plans to have a second channel where you bring more golf content that gets into the weeds of what you’re doing in the lab, if you will?
There are future plans for that. We want to continue to grow that audience and inspire younger a generation, continue that on my main channel. For a secondary channel there’s always that options, especially in different languages and whatnot. That’s a totally different option for us that we’re looking into, as well.
