Bryson DeChambeau needed to have his driver altered three times in the days leading up to The Open Championship, with the American desperate to make sure he could hit the ball straight.
DeChambeau got off to a really bright start on Thursday at Royal Birkdale. The LIV Golf star was under enormous pressure heading into The Open having missed the cut at the first three majors of 2026.
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There was good news for the two-time US Open champion that the wind was not up at Southport. DeChambeau produced a superb performance at Royal Portrush when the conditions became much calmer.
And he made the most of the lack of wind, with DeChambeau birdieing the first two holes. He did not make a single bogey until the 14th, with the 32-year-old producing an extremely sloppy three-putt on the par five.
What Bryson DeChambeau wanted from his driver ahead of The Open Championship
His long game was not flawless by any means. But some may have been surprised by just how well DeChambeau performed off the tee given that links golf can make the very best look erratic.
It turns out that DeChambeau was very specific in terms of what he wanted from the driver this week, as Tim Barter explained on Sky Sports.
“Bryson’s driven the ball generally pretty well today, hasn’t hit that many fairways but the ones he’s missed, he’s not missed by a million miles. And there’s an interesting story about his driver this week. He arrived from the US Open where they had really wide fairways and said to his manufacturer, ‘make me a driver that goes a bit straighter’. They did. He came back the next day and said, ‘I need one that goes straighter still’,” he said.
“A few hours later he came back and said, ‘no, straighter than that’. The fourth iteration is one we’re seeing today. How did they make it straighter? They added a little bit of loft to the club face. Obviously, that means there’s more backspin on the ball, therefore less sidespin effect. And also they put a bias in there so the left side of the course has been slightly taken out of play. So he’s missing typically to the right.”
Why Bryson DeChambeau’s driver tinkering is far from surprising
In truth, it should not come as a huge surprise that DeChambeau is not entirely happy with his driver.
He made the decision ahead of the US Open to switch to a TaylorMade driver having previously used a Krank club for a number of years, including at the 2024 US Open.
The driver in question was added to the conforming list by the USGA on the Monday of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
Unfortunately, it proved to be another difficult week for DeChambeau as he ended up missing the cut in Southampton.
However, that was not down to the driver, with DeChambeau actually leading the field in strokes gained per round off the tee – as shown by Data Golf.
It should not shock anyone that DeChambeau is constantly tinkering with his equipment. And the early signs suggest that he was right to.
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