AUGUSTA, Ga. — Bryson DeChambeau says he told Asterisk Talley there’s more to golf.
He said that she could sign autographs and that she could inspire.
He said she had an opportunity to show who she was.
And that was DeChambeau’s message to Talley on Saturday afternoon after she struggled during the Augusta National Women’s Amateur’s final round. The two-time men’s U.S. Open winner had come out to support one of the world’s best women’s amateurs, who he’d known for a while and was the ANWA leader through two days. But disaster hit. Talley bogeyed the 11th hole. She dumped two shots in the water on 12 and made a quadruple bogey. She signed for a three-over 75 and tied for fourth.
Afterward, DeChambeau met with her. Tuesday, two days before he was to start in the Masters, he talked a bit about what he told her.
What happened, he said, wouldn’t define Talley.
“Yeah, again, knowing her and seeing her practice around me quite a bit when she was younger,” DeChambeau said, “I felt like it was a great opportunity to come out and support her, knowing where she was and that she was playing very well. Also, if she won, there to support her. If she lost, there to help her.
“I felt like it was an opportunity that I could show her a different side of golf. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and the losses can be really difficult. But it’s just not what defines you. That was the message I gave her. This is not going to define you. If anything, this is going to almost give you an opportunity to show who you truly are.”
DeChambeau said he tried to give Talley some perspective after he had a similar result last year. At the 2025 Masters, he led after two holes into the tournament’s final round, then played four-over golf after that and tied for fifth.
“It’s more important to show who you truly are in the losses than the wins,” DeChambeau said Tuesday. “If you have the ability to inspire kids around you — I essentially said look at all the people out there waiting for you to sign autographs. If you can go out there and sign those autographs, it’s more impactful than even winning the tournament sometimes. I know that from experience.
“Albeit, it’s great to win and we all want to win, there’s more to the game. Don’t let this define you because you’re going to have an unbelievable career. This is the start of something special.
“Those are the words I gave her. There was more that I said that I won’t talk about obviously, but that was the gist of it. I felt it was the right time to do it. Again, it’s not like I’m — I mean, I was focused on just helping her out. I didn’t want anything from it other than to help her out.”
During a post-round interview on Saturday, Talley said DeChambeau told her to keep her head high.
“He said he’s been in my position before, and he knows how it feels, especially here,” he said. “He said you’re a great player. It doesn’t really matter.”
