Bryson DeChambeau and the terrible, horrible, no Good, very bad summer continues.
On Sunday at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, DeChambeau collapsed on the back nine. DeChambeau put the ball in the water twice and missed out on the playoff, which was won by Abraham Ancer, by four strokes.
The eight-time PGA Tour winner finished with a 4-over-par 74 a day after shooting 63 on Saturday. He fell to eighth-place tie after starting the day in the final group.
DeChambeau birdied two of the first three holes on Sunday to tie Harris English for the lead. DeChambeau then received a lucky break on the sixth hole when his ball was ruled just in bounds — after officials measured with a string — and he was given a free drop. However, he was unable to capitalize and bogeyed the hole.
The notoriously meticulous 27-year-old and playing partner Harris English were given a slow-play warning which required them to be timed starting on the 11th hole. Although DeChambeau was unavailable to reporters after the round, English thinks the warning affected them both.
“It’s just tough to rush like that,” English, who finished fourth and missed the playoff by a stroke, told reporters. “We were getting warned on the front nine and it’s tough to catch up. I made double on 11, Bryson made triple and you can’t catch up doing that. From 12 on, I felt like we were running.”
The disappointing finish capped another headline-filled week for DeChambeau.
On the 18th hole on Thursday, DeChambeau hit a shot that sailed 319 yards and landed in the rough without calling fore. The lack of etiquette angered Richard Bland, the European Tour’s oldest first-time winner at 48.
“Bryson ploughing it into the crowd again off the tee & no shout of ‘FORE’ maybe it needs someone to get seriously injured for him to learn.” Bland tweeted.
Earlier in the summer, DeChambeau shot 44 over the final nine holes at the US Open when he was leading and dropped to a tie for 26th. Then his longtime caddy Tim Tucker abruptly quit just before the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Then at the British Open, DeCahmbeau said his “driver sucks” after struggling in the first round, leading to a public shaming by his King Cobra sponsors.
Then the 2020 U.S Open winner was scheduled to participate in the Olympics but was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19. He then lost eight-to-10 pounds and resumed practicing just days before the St. Jude Invitational.
“The vaccine doesn’t necessarily prevent it from happening. I’m young enough, I’d rather give it [the vaccine] to people who need it. I don’t need it. I’m a healthy, young individual that will continue to work on my health,” DeChambeau said Wednesday in confounding comments, given the availability of the vaccine in the United States.
“I don’t think taking the vaccine away from someone who needs it is a good thing. My dad is a perfect example. He got it [the vaccine] early on because he’s a diabetic. People like that need to get it. My mom got it. I don’t want to take away that ability.”