Bryson DeChambeau will go into The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale looking to make the cut at a major for the first time this season.
It has been a miserable major championship season for DeChambeau. Hopes were high after he won the final two LIV Golf events before The Masters. However, he has not made it to the weekend at any of the first three majors.
DeChambeau has not had the best time at The Open Championship over the years. It is the only major where he has never finished inside the top five.
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And one of his only top 10 finishes at the event came after DeChambeau had already played himself out of having any chance of winning on Thursday. That, of course, was last year’s tournament at Royal Portrush.
So a fourth missed cut of 2026 surely seems much more likely than a third major title for the 32-year-old.
It is far from ideal at a time when DeChambeau is looking for all of the leverage he can get as his contract runs down and LIV Golf‘s future remains uncertain.
Bryson DeChambeau continues to lose leverage as his LIV Golf contract runs down
Bryson DeChambeau is a massive star in the current game. Few players have managed to break through into the mainstream like the two-time US Open champion.
DeChambeau seemed to be in an incredibly strong position after 2025. He had performed well in three of the four majors. It looked to be a matter of time before he won The Masters after flirting with victories on each of his previous two visits to Augusta National.
DeChambeau argued that he should not face penalties should he return to the PGA Tour due to what he would bring to his former tour.
While it was an incredibly arrogant statement, there was no question that DeChambeau would have been a fantastic addition to the PGA Tour.
However, his stock has fallen significantly since then. The PGA Tour has clearly won the war with LIV Golf. So it is those at Ponte Vedra who now hold all of the cards.
And the next two weeks may make life even more difficult for DeChambeau.
The Scottish Open will involve many of the best players from the PGA Tour, including Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler.
But there are also stars from LIV teeing it up at the Renaissance Club, such as Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
It is arguably the strongest field of the year outside of the majors. And DeChambeau will not be a part of it.
The Scottish Open will help confirm that the PGA Tour does not need to bend over backwards to bring Bryson DeChambeau back
A successful Scottish Open will provide a further indication that the PGA Tour does not need DeChambeau to kick on and thrive in the coming years. They do not need to bend over backwards to entice him back.
It would then be yet another blow if DeChambeau proved to be a non-factor at Royal Birkdale.
It could be the two weeks that sees DeChambeau surrender all of his remaining leverage as he looks to decide where his future lies.
DeChambeau will never be irrelevant. But it has been remarkable to watch his position become weaker and weaker over the last few months, just when it seemed that he was set to have a huge say on how the entire golfing landscape would look.
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