“Anytime you get a chance to represent your country, I’m all for it.”
When Bryson DeChambeau signed with LIV Golf two years ago, he figured that by now the league would receive Official World Golf Ranking points.
That hasn’t happened. And DeChambeau and others who joined LIV have dealt with the repercussions of their decision to leave the PGA Tour. The latest instance is DeChambeau’s frustration with not making the U.S. golf team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
After winning his second U.S. Open title Sunday, DeChambeau has cemented himself as one of the best players in the world this year. He finished T-6 at the Masters, then second at the PGA Championship. The U.S. Open win was a feather in the cap of what has been a brilliant year thus far, but he’s not being rewarded as he may have been in the past. He expressed as much Wednesday during his pre-tournament press conference at LIV Golf Nashville.
“It’s disappointing, but I understand the decisions I made, and the way things have played out has not been necessarily perfectly according to plan,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve done my best up until now to give myself a chance according to the OWGR, but I realize and respect where the current situation of the game is, albeit it’s frustrating and disappointing.”
Even before winning the U.S. Open, DeChambeau had no chance of making the team. He couldn’t earn enough points to gain a spot among the top four Americans in the OWGR. His only events to earn ranking points during the past two years are majors, and because LIV Golf events don’t receive points, there are 14 times a year he plays that aren’t recorded for ranking purposes.
His win Sunday moved him to No. 10 in the world, but it wasn’t enough to get into the top four Americans. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark will head to Paris to represent the Americans.
The 60 players who qualified for the Olympics were announced Tuesday. There are multiple LIV Golf players in the field, including Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann, among others.
In 2021, DeChambeau was on the team but had to withdraw a week before the competition when he got COVID and couldn’t travel.
“I have always loved representing Team USA, whether it’s been the world team amateur (World Amateur Team Championships), the Walker Cup, Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup. It’s been some of the greatest moments of my life. Anytime you get a chance to represent your country, I’m all for it.”
DeChambeau said it was unfortunate he couldn’t travel in 2021, but this year is different. While Scheffler and Schauffele are the other major winners this year, arguments could be made that DeChambeau should be on the team over Morikawa or Clark.
DeChambeau was asked Wednesday if he thought there would have been an agreement by now between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, or if he thought he would’ve been able to get points by now. His answer was telling.
“Yeah, either of those situations,” he said. “That’s kind of what I thought. It hasn’t worked out that way, and again, I respect the decision that I made, and it is what it is. It hurts, but you know what, there’s another one four years later.
“Hopefully 2028 will be a little different situation, and it will make it that much sweeter.”
