By now, you’ve probably read or saw that Bryson DeChambeau wanted to call upon U.S. President Donald Trump to put a stop to the two-stroke penalty he was being assessed by R&A rules officials on Friday evening.
As first reported by Geoff Shackelford in The Quadrilateral, the two-time U.S. Open champion requested that Trump be allowed to weigh in on the scenario – a request that was denied by the Royal and Ancient officials – and while such a suggestion may have seemed pure lunacy a month ago, there is of course recent precedence as witnessed with the United States footballer Folarin Balogun’s suspension being lifted for the round of 16 World Cup clash with Belgium following a phone call from the 47th occupant of the White House.
And Bryson, of course, having teamed up with him in a Break 50 attempt on YouTube, is close friends with Trump, had celebrated his 2024 U.S. Open win with the Trump family, and serves on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.
It is quite possible, of course, that Trump made his own inquiries to the R&A and was rebuffed, but such an admission is not likely to come from the president himself, and I’m sure the R&A would also prefer to keep any such interactions in strict confidence, but either way, we’ll probably never know.
But what we do know, and what the entire incident only rubber-stamped, is that DeChambeau, for better or worse, remains the game’s premier content king. Where he goes, headlines follow.
And few people love a headline more than Donald J. Trump.
It is yet to be confirmed or denied, but I’d be fairly confident that Bryson will tee it up at the Amgen Irish Open at Doonbeg. Had he appeared to regular press at Royal Birkdale, he’d have been asked the question himself, but Paul Gillmon, the DP World Tour Championship Director, refused to rule it out at the tournament’s media day in June, and Rory McIlroy commented that Bryson’s presence would be good for the tournament a day after admitting that he wasn’t “fond” of his rival at the Open Championship.
And McIlroy is right. Whatever you think of Bryson, he would add to the tournament immensely.
While general admission final-round tickets are sold out – and have been for some time – the other three tournament days, plus the Wednesday Pro-Am are not, even with McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Pádraig Harrington, Jon Rahm, and many other global stars confirmed.
Throw Bryson into the mix, and i daresay those early round tickets will sell like proverbial hotcakes.
And why wouldn’t he play? When LIV’s season ends with the Team Championship in Michigan the week prior, he’ll be free to play wherever and whenever he chooses outside of the PGA Tour, and who knows, he may not even have a tour to play on next year if LIV doesn’t find the financial backers it requires.
He could find himself needing the DP World Tour if he doesn’t want to become a full-time YouTube golfer.
You can rest assured that he’s well aware of what McIlroy said about him – the Masters champion also called him “performative” and suggested he had held the tournament hostage with his threats to withdraw at the Open – so the potential to beat McIlroy in front of his home fans should be temptation enough, even without the owner of the resort prodding him in the direction of the first tee.
Whether he needs the stage, the paycheque, the payback or just the spotlight, one thing is clear: if DeChambeau shows up at Doonbeg, the headlines will follow. And the tickets will fly.
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