Ever since the PGA Championship moved to May, The Open Championship has presented the world's best golfers with one last shot at major championship glory. Everyone in the field is looking to end the major season on a high note, but no one is feeling more pressure to get something out of their week at Royal Birkdale than Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau came into the 2026 major championship season with the world at his fingertips. Three top-10 finishes in majors in 2025 secured his spot among the top four in the world alongside Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, and after a dominant start to the LIV Golf season, he seemed primed to win his third major title at some point in 2026.
He arrived at the Masters in April at 10-1 on the pre-tournament odds sheet, the third favorite just behind Rahm (19/2) and ahead of the eventual winner McIlroy (13-1). He left Augusta National on Friday night fuming after missing the cut thanks to a catastrophic double bogey on the 18th from the greenside bunker.
A missed cut in a major was nothing new for DeChambeau, and the expectation was he'd bounce back quickly. He's been boom-or-bust for much of his career in majors, and began the year on a run of eight straight majors where he either finished in the top 10 or missed the cut.
Unfortunately for DeChambeau, this year has been no boom and all bust. His PGA Championship went up in flames early and he never sniffed the weekend at Aronimink. The U.S. Open, the major he's won twice, figured to be the right spot for him to turn things around, but after a strong start, he imploded on Friday and missed the cut again.
As he gets set for his ninth Open Championship start, he's barely even part of the conversation. He no longer gets mentioned alongside the top favorites, Scheffler and McIlroy or even the second tier of contenders. He's currently 66-1 at BetMGM, tied with the likes of Jordan Spieth, Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka, three former major champions likewise searching for relevancy again in the biggest events.
It's hard to pinpoint the exact reason for DeChambeau's fall in 2026, but there are a number of factors seemingly at play. There are constant equipment changes and questions of whether "The Scientist" has gone mad in search of a cure-all for his game when he needs to put in the work on his game to address his weaknesses. That bleeds into his confidence on the golf course, as he's quick to blame his equipment and loses confidence in his ability to execute the shots he wants to.
Then there's the uncertainty about his future, which could be bleeding into his focus on the course. The rumblings of LIV Golf's demise began right around the Masters and have left golf's biggest soon-to-be free agent suddenly without the options he anticipated having. Perhaps he just hasn't figured out how to consistently maintain his top level because, in the words of Nick Faldo this week, he has "no clue" how to strategize his way around a golf course.
Part of what makes major championship golf so fascinating is that, when at its best, it constantly presents players with a test of their mental and physical stamina. DeChambeau, for whatever combination of the reasons above, has failed that test three times this season. If he does so again this week and completes golf's version of the Golden Sombrero, missing the cut in all four majors, he'll have to wait eight more months for a chance to change the narrative that he's no longer one of the game's elite.
That's not time DeChambeau has to waste given his free agency status, and that makes this week at Royal Birkdale more important to him than any Open Championship he's played in before. DeChambeau's game has never been an ideal fit for The Open, and as such, he's largely gotten a pass for not contending for the Claret Jug in the past. As Faldo bluntly explained, links golf is all about having the humility to play the course as it demands and think your way around it, not try to overpower it and bend the course to your will.
Humility is rarely a word ascribed to DeChambeau, but three straight missed cuts must have caused some soul searching for the two-time major champ before he arrived at Royal Birkdale. He only has to look back a year ago to see how he can adapt his game to what links golf demands. DeChambeau opened with a 78 at Royal Portrush and learned a quick lesson, digging in from there to shoot three straight rounds in the 60s -- capped off by a sensational Sunday 64 -- to sneak into T10.
Perhaps that experience, combined with a humbling 2026 major season, can bring out the best in DeChambeau just in time to salvage his year and avoid making the long wait for the 2027 Masters feel even longer.
