20 things you (probably) didn’t know about U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau
Bryson DeChambeau is not only one of the most talented players in golf but also the most entertaining. Here's what you should know about him.
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PINEHURST, N.C. — Bryson DeChambeau has long been one of the game’s great entertainers, but he’s proven the last several majors he’s also one of the world’s top players (2nd at the PGA Championship and T6 at the Masters.)
He did it again on Sunday. DeChambeau, 30, won the 2024 U.S. Open with a one-over 71 and six-under total to claim his second major and second U.S. Open title (he also won the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot).
On Sunday at Pinehurst No. 2 he edged Rory McIlroy, who bogeyed three of the final four holes, by one. McIlroy shot 69 and finished as the solo runner-up.
But since this website exists to inform not only the avid golfer but also the occasional fan who might only tune in for majors, we’re here to educate the golfing world on the game’s latest major champ, who just might be one of the most unique characters in all of golf. So let’s get to know him, shall we?
20 things you (probably) didn’t know about Bryson DeChambeau
1. He’s right-handed but can write his name backwards with his left hand. (Try that; we dare you.)
2. DeChambeau, who played college golf at SMU, was just the fifth player ever to win the NCAA individual title and U.S. Amateur championship in the same year.
3. Due to his collegiate success, everyone wanted a piece of DeChambeau. When he turned pro and signed with Cobra Puma Golf at 22, Cobra’s VP of R&D Tom Olsavsky called it “the Bryson recruiting lottery.”
4. “The Golfing Machine,” by Homer Kelley, played a huge role in DeChambeau’s life. The book was published in 1969 — 24 years before DeChambeau was born — and when he was 15, DeChambeau borrowed a copy from swing coach Mike Schy. That’s where DeChambeau learned about customized swing planes and using a stroke without variation. It also led to him thinking about the revolutionary single-length irons (see below).
5. He uses single-length irons, all of which are cut down to the length of a typical 6-iron. They are also the same weight. The goal here is so every swing is the same and on the same plane. (You can learn more about them here.) Cobra, one of DeChambeau’s main sponsors, also sells One-Length Iron sets.
6. He names his golf clubs. Check them out below.
7. His YouTube channel has nearly 700,000 subscribers. The most-watched video is a nine-hole match vs. Phil Mickelson, which was published about 10 months ago. It’s been viewed 2.7 million times.
8. During the final-round broadcast of the 2020 U.S. Open, analyst Paul Azinger said DeChambeau’s parents said that he understood algebra at age 6.
9. When the Rules of Golf were revised in 2019, DeChambeau was one of the first pros to embrace putting with the flagstick in. “It depends on the COR, the coefficient of restitution of the flagstick,” he told GOLF.com in November 2018, before the rule came into effect. “In U.S. Opens, I’ll take it out, and every other Tour event, when it’s fiberglass, I’ll leave it in and bounce that ball against the flagstick if I need to.” He no longer keeps the flagstick in consistently, however.
10. Speaking of putting, he experimented with side-saddle putting for a few months in 2016, which involves facing the hole and using a pendulum stroke with the putter. There was some controversy around it and the USGA eventually deemed his putter to be non-conforming.
11. At the end of the 2019 season, DeChambeau vowed to bulk up to hit the ball even farther. He went from about 195 pounds to more than 240 (and said he downed seven protein shakes a day). He’s lost weight since and now says he has a better understanding of the best diet for him.
12. At the 2024 Masters, a sign was in DeChambeau’s way on the par-5 13th hole. So he picked it up out of the ground and moved it. (Seriously.)
13. The bulking helped DeChambeau, who was already a long driver of the golf ball, get even longer. In 2021-2022, DeChambeau dabbled in World Long Drive competitions. And surprisingly enough, he did well. He finished second in one competition, and some say his presence even saved the circuit.
14. He used to always wear a Ben Hogan-inspired flat cap in tournament rounds.
15. DeChambeau went to LIV golf in 2022 for a contract reportedly worth between $100-125 million guaranteed (LIV does not disclose financials).
16. At LIV, he’s the team captain of the Crushers, which is the logo you’ll see him wear on his hat, shirts and more while on the golf course. Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri are the other players on the Crushers roster.
17. He recently stopped mid-round to make sure a kid received an intended souvenir. At the PGA Championship last month, DeChambeau threw a ball to a young fan, but when it was snatched up by an older spectator, he sprung into action.
18. DeChambeau was involved in a lengthy feud with Brooks Koepka, which at times seemed manufactured and at other times overly aggressive and cringeworthy. At one point DeChambeau even had fans thrown out for heckling him (calling him “Brooksy,” which was essentially encouraged by Koepka). They eventually (kind of) settled their differences by facing off in an edition of The Match on Thanksgiving 2021. The match itself left much to be desired, and little has happened in the Koepka vs. DeChambeau feud since.
19. His driver loft? Six degrees.
20. He puts his golf balls is Epsom salt. We’ll let him explain.
“Essentially we float golf balls in a solution to make sure that the golf ball is not out of balance,” he said Saturday night at Pinehurst. “There was a big thing back in the day where golf balls are out of balance, and it’s just because of the manufacturing process. There’s always going to be an error, especially when it’s a sphere and there’s dimples on the edges. You can’t perfectly get it in the center. So what I’m doing is finding pretty much the out-of-balanceness of it, how much out of balance it is. Heavy slide floats to the bottom, and then we mark the top with a dot to make sure it’s always rolling over itself. It kind of acts like mud. If there’s too much weight on one side, you can put it 90 degrees to where the mud is on the right-hand side or the mud is on the left-hand side. I’m using mud as a reference for the weight over there. It’ll fly differently and fly inconsistently. For most golf balls that we get, it’s not really that big of a deal. I just try to be as precise as possible, and it’s one more step that I do to make sure my golf ball flies as straight as it possibly can fly because I’m not that great at hitting it that straight.”
Got that? OK, good.
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