Bryson DeChambeau made headlines heading into the Rocket Mortgage Classic for his rebuilt physique, his voracious appetite, his prodigious length and his stellar play.
He left Detroit on Sunday with his sixth PGA Tour title, a three-shot victory over Matthew Wolff which put another $1.35 million (before taxes) in his bank account.
But the moment that is sticking with many is an incident on the 7th hole, in which DeChambeau castigated a television camera operator for videotaping his mediocre bunker shot and ensuing reaction.
“He was literally watching me the whole entire way up after getting out of the bunker, walking up next to the green. And I just was like, ‘Sir, what is the need to watch me that long?’” DeChambeau told Golf Channel’s Will Gray after his round. “I mean, I understand it’s his job to video me, but at the same point, I think we need to start protecting our players out here compared to showing a potential vulnerability and hurting someone’s image.”
On Monday, during an interview on Brad Faxon’s SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show Just the Fax, DeChambeau offered further explanation.
I was trying to show, or explain to people that I hope we all have respect for all the players out here because, you know, the guy was videoing me for over a minute after I made my shot and I didn’t understand that. I hope people realize it’s not a knock on the cameraman at all. I understand he’s doing his job. I love all the cameramen that do their jobs out there, but I just feel like, we need to have a mutual level of respect. That’s all. There’s nothing more to be said. I have the utmost respect for them. Hopefully he has the utmost respect for me and has the forethinking, the foreknowledge to be able to say ‘Hey, look, there’s no reason’ to video me for a minute and a half after I hit a shot. But I get that. We’re all entertainers. They’re doing their job, I’m doing my job the best I can. I just felt like he was videoing me, waiting for me to do something bad. But I didn’t. And so I was going, OK man, I’d really appreciate it if you’d, you know, just kind of went off on me, you know, instead of videoing me for a minute and a half after a shot that wasn’t the best.
DeChambeau is taking this week off, forgoing the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
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