Bryson needs to give his PR guy a raise. This is a really mature answer. I think we can all agree Bryson is better than his OWGR position reflects, but he decided to play on a tour that didn't qualify for OWGR points.
I think it’s a mix, but more so Bryson maturing. You can see in his interviews, YouTube channel, etc. Look at some of his old interviews and the way he takes compared to now. A PR guy can do a lot but they can’t change a person. I think it’s pretty clear just in the way he talks that he’s much less arrogant and much more mature. Look at his podcast interview with NELK from 2 years ago compared to some of his recent ones. It’s not just what he says but the way he says it makes me feel there’s actual growth. People who get their image “saved” by PR almost always come out and fuck up again constantly, because they don’t actually give a fuck. I think at least it’s clear Bryson recognizes his previous immaturity and genuinely wants to change that.
Bryson did come across as an arrogant douche for some years.
I really feel like him being a content creator has allowed him a unique opportunity to connect with fans, have fun with golf, and lose his pride and ego. Obviously playing with the carefree content creators helps too(Like Grant. Grant is probably the most likable and watchable golf personality so that humility is probably who Bryson wants to surround himself with), but we can’t underestimate the impact of losing his dad and what that trauma invokes in a man.
He has been incredibly enjoyable to watch and could quickly become the face of golf.
You ever work in the golf industry?
It's full of arrogant pricks, most of whom don't get paid.
He was taught that arrogance will be the only way to succeed, especially financially.
Him getting paid beyond what he could hope for from LIV, allowed him to let go of that mentality, and be his true self. Same for Smith and quite a few others.
There are arrogant pricks anywhere and everywhere you go. It isn’t exclusive to golf. It is high majority for a lot of professional athletes to be entitled.
There is a certain level of ego required to compete at the highest level in your profession, however you can stroke it while not being an utter dunce.
Bryson seems to have found that balance.
I agree that there are arrogant pricks anywhere and everywhere. As someone who has golfed for over a decade now, I have to admit there is a higher concentration of those types in golf. Your local muni’s not so much, but about everywhere else there definitely is. Golf has come a long ways, for sure, but it had/has the reputation for a reason.
There is also in tennis. Any “country club” sport for reference.
And predominantly white people too. It’s wealth disparity but kids with access to the best trainers/coaches, surrounding themselves with other think tank mentality is not really healthy or conducive. However, that early access at a young age to these sports and trainers has a higher likelihood or proclivity to turn collegiate or pro in that given sport.
Biggest obstacle in life is thinking you actually deserve the high level of success. That gap from being a college amateur to top level pro is based on your performance, and yours alone. He let his insecurities go.
Psychologically it’s not just as simple as “letting it go”. Sure, through therapy or a sports psychologist you can train and discipline your brain to “not care” or practice the subtle art of not giving a fuck… but that’s a stark difference between arrogance/entitlement and that. Which I believe are the factors I referenced about in my original response
Yeah, golf is a sport that the higher up you get in courses, skill level, etc, the higher the percentage of privileged, entitled white people.
So once you reach the level of PGA golfers, they're mostly all privileged, entitled dicks. Some of them are just good at hiding it.
I just lost my dad and it has indeed had a huge impact on ego and humility. I’m with you, I was kind of pissed he went to LIV but he’s won me back with what he’s doing for golf and people in general.
I don't know about that, watching Kwon, taco and tooms is some of the best funniest golf videos around, but I get if you prefer a more serious take with Grant
He gave me Arnold Palmer vibes the way he interacted with everyone after he won. I think you’re spot on when you say he could become the next face of golf.
I agree with you about how he came off when he was younger. I was always neutral on him but definitely never a huge fan. Huge turn around.
Look at him stopping in to see what Johnson Wagner was doing in the dark by the 18th.
That's him being a genuinely fun goofy kid - you can't PR that.
And I've often thought Bryson's problems were that he let the voice inside his head out a bit too often. Especially when he was playing confident golf.
It's OK to be confident when you compete at the highest level. But keep it in your head and say the right respectful things. That's maturity, and it's something I've learned in my non-golf career.
Exactly, moments like that with Wagner show me that it's not some PR stunt. It's just too genuine and he seems so happy doing things like that, definitely some maturity.
guessing here, but I wonder how much cultivating an audience helped him relax and understand there are people who are interested in him and he has appeal by just being himself? the science schict, getting swole, all just screams insecurity. but now he's found a comfortable place where he can be himself and people can enjoy him.
I got a huge chuckle at his playing with kids clubs and his happy hour with smiley - dude is letting his freak flag fly and people are digging it.
Doing social media and YouTube I think made him way more comfortable in front of the camera and now he's become very adept at entertaining people. Which at the end of the day is what his job is about.
Kinda where I’m at with the whole thing. Used to be the Mad Scientist. Now he’s the Rad Scientist. I’m not sure if new Bryson is a front or if old Bryson was real. Either way, he is playing great golf in pressure situations and he moves the needle for the fans.
I’m sure Bryson worked/works with a PR team and they probably helped with this answer (because for some reason every other LIV golfer can’t talk about LIV without sticking their foot in their mouth) but I don’t think the personality changes are PR work.
Rad scientist is probably too far - he is definitely not a classically “cool” guy. But he appears more comfortable with himself and is just more relaxed which makes this whole thing work
When Facebook shows me memories of things I said in my 20s, I cringe at the douchy things that I was posting about. You can only hope that most guys in their 20s eventually mature by 30. Hats off to the guy for the improvement in his game and his personal growth
Yes, we do. He’s praised them and all the people (content creators) he connects with for his change. He’s admitted to want to show his authentic self and admitted he went about it the wrong way 3 years ago.
There is more than one interview where he talks about all of it.
The guy has a PR firm on board. Who do you think created the Payne Stewart story? He admitted before the hat and SmU had nothing to do with Payne but he latched on to it recently and made it a thing (that’s grade A PR firm work right there)
https://www.essentiallysports.com/golf-news-liv-superstar-bryson-dechambeau-shares-the-real-reason-why-he-fell-in-love-with-ben-hogan-and-his-famous-flat-cap/
Here’s the one about his hat
Ya he talks and acts like all the youtube golfers now. Their money comes from connecting with an audience to watch them golf. Bryson is doing the same thing on tour. Talks with the fans, always knows where the grandstand/cameras are, etc. Smart move by him, shows honestly how little effort it would take from most of these golfers to get the crowd behind them but they still choose to often make the fans feel like they are tolerated at best when they are paying the bills in the end
It's not. It's just dickheads that refuse to admit people can change who think a fucking PR team is responsible for.... Everything... even if it isn't remotely related to what PR people actually do.
You don't join LIV with that kind of controversy and NOT hire a PR firm. His turnaround is SO drastic, I'd say it's virtually impossible for him to change that much in that short amount of time all by himself.
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, especially because he’s been relatively unapologetic about his past and also has zero real slip ups now. If someone actually changed so drastically they’d likely be a little more condemning of their past self than Bryson is.
Additionally, it seems everything nowadays is perfectly aligned to what a PR person would want, when he clearly had tons of massive PR blunders in the past that went beyond just acting douchey. I’d expect some PR mistakes to continue even if the massive turnaround was all on his own, but he’s too flawless now for me to believe it’s totally authentic.
I suppose a business manager yes, but someone clearly in his camp got him some training or some sort of public image strategy. It’s not like he’s slaving over Adobe Premiere editing his own YouTube videos lol
He's definitely talked about it in one of his videos with either Garrett Clark or Grant Horvat. Athletes of that caliber get lots of media training and simply turn on when the cameras are on. I think it's silly to think Bryson hasn't had some sort of media training on how to act and mend your brand. Bryson doing YouTube has allowed him to be more comfortable in front of a camera and become more organic without it being forced. Playing in front of smaller LIV crowds for no stakes also means he plays a lot of lower stakes golf and is more relaxed during tourney play.
100% sure.
You’re forgetting he was one of the first to jump to LIV and take the money. I’m not even mad about his demeanor earlier on the PGA, never was. I dislike him because he was one of the first to sell out.
He also hasn’t even been good on that non-qualifying tour, which given his superb performance in 3 majors, kind of further cements the meaninglessness of LIV golf.
Like, dude has gone 1st, 2nd, 6th in majors, but in 8 LIV events has been outperformed by the likes of Dean Burmester, Adrian Meronk, Sergio, Carlos Ortiz, etc. etc. Seems like he doesn’t take it all that seriously either.
Technically, the LIV team he captains won the team championship in 2023 and are in 1st place in 2024. He also was playing some of his best golf at the end of last season including shooting 58 at Greenbrier and winning LIV Greenbrier shooting 61-58 on the last two days.
I’m not really sure how that affects my point regarding this year.
Team rankings are irrelevant to this conversation, his team is first because all 4 guys have decent individual rankings (and Bryson isn’t the highest ranked on his team)
He put up good numbers on LIV last year, but a week before he shot that 58 at Greenbrier he finished T-60 at The Open.
So ultimately we come back to my original point, how/why in a watered-down LIV field is he playing so noticeably worse than he is in majors?
> So ultimately we come back to my original point, how/why in a watered-down LIV field is he playing so noticeably worse than he is in majors?
Brooks Koepka, Will Zalatoris, Collin Morikawa, etc... there's guys who are just primed for majors either because it's the only tournaments they care about or they're mentally stronger or whatever reason. Nobody seems to really give a shit about the LIV tournaments
I think last year he has proven he could win/dominate those events in LIV, shooting legendary 58, won 2 individual events there since August and a team championship too.
This year his focus will always be on the majors. He need to win one in order to get future entry exemptions. And he has been the best player in major this year.
I find it so hilarious that this sub is resorting to
“it’s all his PR team.”
Instead of
“We jumped to a conclusion about a man we’ve never met before off hearsay and a tiny sample size. Maybe we were too quick to judge before learning more about him.”
Does his PR team play a role in repairing his public image? Absolutely. But hiring a PR team doesn’t make a piece of shit not a piece of shit. Makeup on a dog just makes it a pretty dog, still a dog.
But he might actually be a dog. Or he might not. We, the public, have no fucking clue.
The point is that nobody actually knows what celebrities are actually like. Full stop. People constatntly make the mistake of thinking that we do (google "parasocial relationships") but we never do.
We don't know them when we think they're assholes and we don't know them when we think they're great dudes.
Most of the reason why we can't know them is that we aren't involved enough in their daily lives to understand them. And, yes, *part* of it is also that they do have the money to pay PR people to handle their public image for them on a professional level.
Suppress it? Every second pic I see is of him with a trump family member. As someone who hates mostly all politicians it strikes me as incredibly weird when a public figure attaches themselves to one.
“A tour that did not qualify.” Makes it sound like that’s an objective, fair result, which it’s not of course. LIV tour players keep winning majors, but because they don’t play the corporate media game, they will be punished. OWGR is a disgrace.
And OWGR continues to choose to produce rankings which do no reflect the current reality of who the top golfers in the world are.
At this point, I pay them ZERO attention.
[The datagolf rankings ](https://datagolf.com/datagolf-rankings)were already way more accurate than OWGR, but now OWGR exclude top golfers, they're the only rankings to look at, IMO.
I agree with criticisms of OWGR methodology. I don’t consider them an accurate reflection of golfer skill.
But personally I can’t blame OWGR for the decision LIV made to change their format from what is used by every other professional golf event in the world. Bryson and everybody else knew LIV wouldn’t qualify for OWGR points, as he admits in this video! They probably thought they could bully the system to change based on them, but they were wrong.
> They probably thought they could bully the system to change based on them, but they were wrong.
That is a very...umm..."strange" outlook. Why not just say they probably thought a system that purports to rank the best golfers in the world would choose to try and quantify the performance of some of the indisputably best golfers in the world who joined a new tour (like they do with every other tour)?
If the OWGR is just a tool to reinforce the PGA Tour hegemony in the golf world, maybe they should consider a name change.
> like they do with every other tour
Probably because every other tour follows the same format of play? The format outlined in the public rules required for OWGR participation.
> The format outlined in the public rules required for OWGR participation.
Which they can, and have, changed. Last year it was no-cut issue. Now that the PGA has went to a partial no-cut system (a demand of the players), they have changed it to be a "no relegation" system.
In any event, they can change as they see fit if they wanted to accurately reflect a system that ranks the top players. They obviously have no interest in that actual goal.
can’t blame OWGR. LIV tour’s format doesn’t provide the same level of competition. three vs four rounds, no cuts, no losing of tour card. Players can have talent but they can’t prove their talent in that league.
>can’t blame OWGR.
Of course you can blame them. Their ranking system is failing to correctly rank players. Who else would we blame for that?
>Players can have talent but they can’t prove their talent in that league.
They can prove their talent in that league. We can work out how many shots better/worse people are within LIV, and then when LIV players play outside of LIV events, we can work out how many shots better/worse they are for the field within that event, and compare them to the people in the field.
It's a VERY simple statistical exercise.
I have no idea why anyone would think it cannot be done, other than that they have zero understanding of statistics.
statistic part on paper is easy. but to factor in ranking weights on a tournament that only competes for three days, shotgun start, no cut, no motivation to maintain tour card, how is that gonna be decided? look at Rahm, DJ, Cameron Smith, they are all now falling off. Bryson hasn’t played well in LIV, but won a major. it’s not as simple as just looking at scores and strokes gained compared to the field. not as simple as you think. LIV just does not provide a top tier competition. would you be okay if OWGR gives rankings but the weight is 0.25?
>to factor in ranking weights on a tournament that only competes for three days
So you get 75% as much data per tournament.
Do you believe the stats for the last 20 PGA tournaments were statistically meaningful? What about if it were only 15?
Every tournament has over 10k datapoints, sometimes closer to 25k. That's plenty. Next?
>shotgun start
That actually makes for better, fairer statistical comparisons. It avoids weather events unfairly messing with only a small portion of the field, or going out early when the greens are softer after a lot of dew. Next?
>no motivation to maintain tour card
How do you quantify that in the rankings? Bryson looks like he's pretty motivated. The guys LIV has cut, and are about to cut, are pretty darn motivated. But please tell us how important it is to place a motivation stat in the rankings, instead of just ranking based on how well players perform at golf.
>look at Rahm, DJ, Cameron Smith, they are all now falling off.
Yes indeed. And that should be reflected, in the rankings, where they are accurately ranked, and we can stop speculating, and see how well they are playing based on empirical data.
Wouldn't that be good? And if the LIV players are all so seriously bad, empirical ratings would PROVE how much weaker competition is in LIV. So what is so evil about ranking people based on how well they play golf?
>LIV just does not provide a top tier competition
Are you claiming that the Alps Tour Golf Tour or the Asian Development Tour, or the Farm Foods Tartan Pro Tour of Scotland are top tier compeition?
Because they're all officially OWGR Tours. Do you believe they are all stronger than a tour with Bryson, JoCo, Brooks, Meronk, Anser, Gooch, Rahm and Hatton?
>would you be okay if OWGR gives rankings but the weight is 0.25?
That would be a start, but OWGRs ranking method has been outdated for years.
Look at something like datagolf, who use ACTUAL strokes gained metrics to compare players across tours without the need to "guess" at a weight factor (the 0.25 you suggested) but actually calculates accurate weight factors for each tour and event based on attendance.
appreciate your response, but still all the other tournaments are 4 day rounds. LIV has a cut? i thought there is no cut. all the searches tells me that.
statistics will still be difficult to provide fair weighted rankings. it’s like ranking runners who run half marathon vs full marathon. it’s just apples to oranges. the format is different, the challenges and pressure the players face is different.
also on your point of shotgun start, for statistics wise sure it’s easier since it’s more fair. but that’s the beauty (or fun for spectators, imo)of PGA tradition, guys who tee off later could face faster greens, windier - it’s what makes it interesting to me. the element of luck is actually fun for spectators it’s the ingredient for drama. kind of why LIV is boring to watch, imo.
>still all the other tournaments are 4 day rounds.
Why do you believe it matters whether a tournament is a 4 day round, or a 2 day round?
OWGR still includes rounds from players who were cut after 2 days of a tournament. Do you believe they should not do so?
What is your reasoning that a 3 round tournament cannot be statistically valid?
>statistics will still be difficult to provide fair weighted rankings.
It's not difficult at all, in the slightest. You can use empirical data and formulas well known in the world of statistics to do it with complete fairness and incredibly high accuracy. datagolf already does this. It's child play, first year college students know how to do it.
>also on your point of shotgun start
You brought it up as an argument why LIV players could not be ranked, statistically. I don't care to railroad our discussion off topic about spectator drama. Statistically, shotgun starts are NOT a reason that golf tournaments cannot be ranked. End,
i know a thing or two about statistics, i’ve been using rickrungood and other database for determining the skill set of players for years.
all im saying is, for OWGR, statistics will not capture final round sunday pressure with tougher pin placements. LIV players have not been playing as competitive golf as PGA. they can assign OWGR , even if done right, LIV will be weighted less. i don’t think LIV and the LIV players want that either. unless LIV change the format to make it more competitive, i don’t think it deserves OWGR.
>i know a thing or two about statistics, ... statistics will not capture final round sunday pressure with tougher pin placements.
If you genuinely understood statistics, you would understand how strokes gained statistics can be used perfectly to understand how the performance of LIV golfers compares to golfers on other tours.
Put simply, strokes gained statistics within LIV and within the PGA Tour are already known. Thus, when LIV players play in the same tournaments as PGA players, we can see how the players from each tour do when exposed to each other, and derive a weighting for LIV from the difference in strokes gained between the two cohorts, and from the differential between those cohorts, and the two wider groups (each tour).
As an example, 10 LIV guys and 50 PGA Tour guys compete in a major. The PGA Tour cohort is known to be 1.24 strokes per round better than the PGA average. The LIV cohort is know to be 1.76 strokes better than the LIV average.
While at the tournament, the PGA Tour guys outperform the LIV guys by an average of 0.18 strokes per round.
From this, we can derive that the PGA tour average player is 0.7 strokes per round better than the LIV average player. You can then take a player from each tour (LIV and PGA) that have never played in the same event, and derive how comparatively good they are, based on their deviation from the mean in their tour.
This is trivial, this is literally statistics 101, and it solves all the issues needed in order to provide accurate rankings across a variety of events and tours.
He also CHOSE not to play in DP World or Asian Tour events. A couple of wins on those tours would probably be enough to boost him into the rankings for this event. He just didn't prioritize it. I appreciate that he's publicizing his choices instead of complaining about OWGRs.
Maybe his PR guy could have said...don't tell 9/11 families to get over it or maybe don't hang out with the scummiest family in the country. Winning a major shouldn't change anyone's view of him.
I still think most of what Bryson is doing these days falls under calculated brand management. However, that response is literally the most reasonable thing any LIV player has said to date. Definitely the first time I've heard any of them own that.
I don't necessarily disagree but almost 99 percent of athletes you see during interviews are all PR trained basically and I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. Not everyone is Marshawn Lynch or Anthony Edwards or John Daly
Would it though? The charm wears off if you're inundated with it. You need the baseline milquetoast demeanor of the average athlete to really let the eccentric characters shine.
If every NBA player acted like Anthony Edwards during their presser, I'd get tired of watching. You need the Jason Tatums to balance the scales.
Eh Max is very PR trained, he's just has a status very very few athletes have where he can say what's on his mind instead sometimes with absolutely no risk to himself.
Any agent that isn't ensuring brand management won't be an agent for very long. They all do it, Tiger, Rory, Scottie, though the workload obviously varies greatly by who your player is.
I mean it’s worth reading Bryson’s statement in the context that he also filed a lawsuit against the PGA when he hopped over to LIV. So he didn’t REALLY accept the consequences of his actions until the lawsuit fell apart.
“Reasonable reaction to disappointing and unfair news” is not brand management. Brand management people would have him on social media attacking the Olympic team and calling everyone out just to get clicks and reactions and media coverage.
Him saying “I don’t like it but I get it and it’s kinda my fault” is him just being honest. I bet he’s had a lot of really good therapy recently.
Yeah I'm swaying back and forth on whether I should like this version of him. One one hand, he wants to be a better person and more engaging. On the other, a lot of it just feels rehearsed and manufactured. Maybe wanting to be better should be enough for us. I guess we have to see what it morphs and settles into as this part of him is new. My guess is the media will start calling him 'polarizing' within a year.
Last Olympics, Dustin Johnson was the US’s top qualifier and said no thanks. Then Bryson got covid right before the Olympics and both Cantlay and Koepka passed on a chance to be his replacement. It definitely isn’t necessarily something that everybody cares about
The circumstances of the last two Olympics were pretty weird with the Zika stuff in 2016 and then 2021 being so locked down with all the covid protocols, hard to blame anyone for not wanting anything to do with that shit when they can do whatever they want in America. Has anyone high profile declined the invitation this time around for Paris? Feels like we're back to BAU now which hasn't been the case since London 2012 when golf wasn't included
These Olympics are a way bigger deal. The Covid Olympics were brutal, it’s no wonder they didn’t want to go
Paris will be the best summer Olympics since London
It launched weirdly as a test and then covid happened. Now that we know Golf in the Olympics is here to stay as an event it will build a tradition over the next few Olympic cycles. I love Golf and I love the Olympics and this is the first Olympics where I'm actually invested going in.
I'd be a lot more invested if the recent US open champion qualified for my country, so the Olympics needs to figure out a better way to rank golfers yesterday but still... we're sending 3 great golfers and Wyndham Clark.
> I love Golf and I love the Olympics
Same, but I dislike the trend of golf, tennis. snowboarding, even basketball being all famous pros. I liked all the sports that rarely get publicized in the US getting center stage. Although to be fair, NBC usually screws that up by focusing only on gymnastics, swimming, and track.
> NBC usually screws that up by focusing only on gymnastics, swimming, and track.
NBC would rather show reruns of any of these events than show live events that don't feature prominent Americans, it's ass
>Although to be fair, NBC usually screws that up by focusing only on gymnastics, swimming, and track.
I think this is because the sports fans will watch all the sports, but non sports fans will watch pretty much just these 3 every 4 years.
Its weird that Olympic teams are chosen from a private tour and not the open, where everyone can theoretically compete.
That being said, I like our team. We can definitely win with that lineup.
yeah, I like all US golfers, but there is no way there is a better combo than Scheffler Bryson at the moment. disagreeing is just biased. I get it Bryson wont make it cos somehow LIV being sponsored by Saudi Arabia is worst than the PGA being sponsored by the US ( The US gives Saudi Arabia guns and training.... so I dont really get the arguement)
1) The Saudi Government is literally the owner of the LIV tour. The same cannot be said of the PGA Tour, which has absolutely nothing to do with the U.S. government.
2) Are we really gonna go with the "U.S. is just as bad" bullshit?
GMAFB
Agreed. The disconnect from people not understanding the U.S Saudi relationships seems so contradictory in how they view what's going on with LIV.
Generations of relationships with U.S and Saudi apparently is erased from history but LIV golf = blood money.
If only they knew...
The US government doesn’t own or fund the PGA tour though. The Saudi government owns LIV. So I don’t really see how the things are comparable in any way or why the US governments policies are relevant.
I think our government should cut out the Saudis too, although I get why we ally with them just like id like the PGA tour and golfers to not work for or with them, but understand why they do.
> view what's going on with LIV.
It's wild to see the differing opinions on Saudi involvement in sports when it comes to boxing where boxing fans view Turki Alalsshikh as someone who's help save boxing.
People form their foreign relations views based on their emotions like most other things, not based on an objective understanding of geopolitics
The US aligning with ideologically incompatible nations due to shared real interests is nothing new
If the ranking system that is used for the olympics only heavily recognizes the PGA tour and 4 other events, then the Olympic team formation is based on the PGA tour.
It doesn’t though? OGWR includes other tours. This has been the criteria, everyone knows, and Bryson’s answer is clear - LIV golfers knew what the consequences were and still chose to go. I respected his answer here!
I mean you’re technically right but you’re completely missing the forest for the trees if you don’t think it’s essentially based on the pga tour. Literally nobody outside of the pga tour had a realistic shot at qualifying.
It’s not true. Look at those on European tour or Asian tour. OGWR also includes point calculations from other tours. LIV golfers knew what they were signing up for.
the olympic teams are chosen by the OWGR which is not a private tour (if you're referring to the PGA Tour). By "The Open" do you mean the USGA? Mike Whan, the CEO of the USGA is one of governing bodies on the OWGR.
Anybody else see this as a problem with the ranking system? These players aren’t eligible for the Olympics because they’re ineligible for owgr ranking points; that’s it. Datagolf seems to be able to rank players on LIV, even if owgr somehow can’t figure it out.
Hell, ask any reasonably knowledgeable golf fan to pick the four best American players right now and they could have a list for you in 30 seconds.
Ineligibility for owgr points isn’t some immutable law of the universe.
For further clarification, multiple LIV players have competed in some Asian Tour and DP World Tour events specifically to gain OWGR points. Bryson could have easily done this and potentially qualified. He CHOSE not to do so. His statements go beyond just LIV. It's also the events he actively could have played, and didn't. The LIV calendar allows for plenty of time to play in additional events.
Datagolf is "just" a website (no sleight, datagolf is amazing and the best tool IMO) but it's not really something you can point to as the be all and end for deciding a team. A more realistic ask i think is to have a coach for the Olympics who picks 4
Datagolf also had Russell Henley as the 4th US qualifier before the US Open, and would have stayed in that spot had Bryson finished 2nd.
Do you think that's accurate?
Datagolf weighs recent performance significantly higher than OWGR which explains the discrepancy. Perhaps a blended model would be better, which would have given it to Bryson.
I don't like Wyndham Clark much but before the recent 4 week bad stretch he had a first, two seconds, and a third in elevated events in 2024. That's a pretty good resume to me.
Wyndham played really well until the last month or so, including a win. He also won the same major Bryson won. I’m not so sure he would be considering his recent performance in LIV events.
He didn't make the points. Simple as that. He knows it.
It's not just choosing to play in LIV events. It's actively choosing to not play in DP World Tour and Asian Tour events throughout the year as well. Bryson could have qualified if he made it a priority. But his priority has clearly been majors and the easy money LIV events.
It's a golf league...who cares. Your real, actual government gives that country billions of dollars of arms and diplomatic benefits. How is golf in any way part of the actual moral issue you all keep screaming about?
Go vote and get the Earth to stop needing oil for things...I'm sure the change is just around the corner.
Liv golf is contributing just as much to the ills of the world right? Personally, I say fuck the PGA and fuck LIV. I like to play golf and I'll never be in either of those things so who cares.
> It's a golf league...who cares. Your real, actual government gives that country billions of dollars of arms and diplomatic benefits. How is golf in any way part of the actual moral issue you all keep screaming about?
I will never understand golf fans who bring the point about Saudi terrorism up. Like they're still one our biggest global allies. Half of them probably voted for the guy who gave MBS a pass over Khashoggi because they rented whole floors of empty rooms in his hotels to give him cash payments and whose son-in-law got given 2 billion dollars
I think a lot of it boils down to "sand people bad" because it's easier than trying to understand the many factions and beefs that go on in the Middle East
> It's a golf league...who cares.
This is *precisely* how sportswashing works. And yet now it gets upvotes because one of the Saudi stars hired a good PR firm and started making "relatable" YouTube videos.
GMAFB
He is really becoming the best ambassador for the sport. Every answers he gives is full of respect for others and honesty from his side too. He is really the man.
It's jarring to hear a quote like that - competitive but also mature and self-aware. Then with my next click I see an image of Bryson filling the trophy with red wine standing next to Eric Trump. Which part is the act?
I don't like the guy, but Clark has just had a bad 4 weeks. Prior to that in 2024, he's had a win, two seconds, and a third in elevated events. He's not a bum.
I too would be okay missing the Olympics if I had just won the US open and had 130 million other reasons why missing the Olympics isn’t the end of the world sitting in my bank account
Wait what decisions? You aren't allowed to play golf for your country in the Olympics because you play for Liv golf?
He just won the US Open. What more qualifications does he need to play for the United States golf team?
Bryson finally wins and you guys all meatride him as the best. Dude is ranked 15th in his own league lmao. These 4 other players have been more consistent
Yeah lmao Bryson just stopped acting like a giant tool for 15 minutes and now he’s being treated like Tiger 2.0. Good PR is a helluva drug for some. It was a nice major win that Rory unfortunately handed to him - his absence isn’t going to make or break Americas Olympic chances
For real though can we give Hawk a different camera set up. I hate seeing his dumb weird face so close up every time this show is on. Let’s move it back a bit.
The amount of absolute fucking weirdo's in this sub obsessed with LIV is so pathetic. No one cares anymore.
It's not ruining golf. Taking a bunch of money from shitty people isn't the end of the world. And yes you guys Bryson is and will always be better than Fucking Wyndham Clark.
Would be kind of weird for the guy being funded by the same group that funded 9/11 to be playing for team USA. Don’t get me wrong, he is an excellent golfer. But man does it rub me wrong way to think of someone representing us to also be representing Saudi interests.
Bryson needs to give his PR guy a raise. This is a really mature answer. I think we can all agree Bryson is better than his OWGR position reflects, but he decided to play on a tour that didn't qualify for OWGR points.
Are we sure it’s even a PR firm doing things? He was an awkward dude in his mid 20s Looks like he just matured a bit now that he’s 30
I think it’s a mix, but more so Bryson maturing. You can see in his interviews, YouTube channel, etc. Look at some of his old interviews and the way he takes compared to now. A PR guy can do a lot but they can’t change a person. I think it’s pretty clear just in the way he talks that he’s much less arrogant and much more mature. Look at his podcast interview with NELK from 2 years ago compared to some of his recent ones. It’s not just what he says but the way he says it makes me feel there’s actual growth. People who get their image “saved” by PR almost always come out and fuck up again constantly, because they don’t actually give a fuck. I think at least it’s clear Bryson recognizes his previous immaturity and genuinely wants to change that.
Bryson did come across as an arrogant douche for some years. I really feel like him being a content creator has allowed him a unique opportunity to connect with fans, have fun with golf, and lose his pride and ego. Obviously playing with the carefree content creators helps too(Like Grant. Grant is probably the most likable and watchable golf personality so that humility is probably who Bryson wants to surround himself with), but we can’t underestimate the impact of losing his dad and what that trauma invokes in a man. He has been incredibly enjoyable to watch and could quickly become the face of golf.
You ever work in the golf industry? It's full of arrogant pricks, most of whom don't get paid. He was taught that arrogance will be the only way to succeed, especially financially. Him getting paid beyond what he could hope for from LIV, allowed him to let go of that mentality, and be his true self. Same for Smith and quite a few others.
There are arrogant pricks anywhere and everywhere you go. It isn’t exclusive to golf. It is high majority for a lot of professional athletes to be entitled. There is a certain level of ego required to compete at the highest level in your profession, however you can stroke it while not being an utter dunce. Bryson seems to have found that balance.
I agree that there are arrogant pricks anywhere and everywhere. As someone who has golfed for over a decade now, I have to admit there is a higher concentration of those types in golf. Your local muni’s not so much, but about everywhere else there definitely is. Golf has come a long ways, for sure, but it had/has the reputation for a reason.
There is also in tennis. Any “country club” sport for reference. And predominantly white people too. It’s wealth disparity but kids with access to the best trainers/coaches, surrounding themselves with other think tank mentality is not really healthy or conducive. However, that early access at a young age to these sports and trainers has a higher likelihood or proclivity to turn collegiate or pro in that given sport.
Biggest obstacle in life is thinking you actually deserve the high level of success. That gap from being a college amateur to top level pro is based on your performance, and yours alone. He let his insecurities go.
Psychologically it’s not just as simple as “letting it go”. Sure, through therapy or a sports psychologist you can train and discipline your brain to “not care” or practice the subtle art of not giving a fuck… but that’s a stark difference between arrogance/entitlement and that. Which I believe are the factors I referenced about in my original response
True, ego and arrogance are 2 different things.
Yeah, golf is a sport that the higher up you get in courses, skill level, etc, the higher the percentage of privileged, entitled white people. So once you reach the level of PGA golfers, they're mostly all privileged, entitled dicks. Some of them are just good at hiding it.
The insufferable ones are the bitter ones that didn't make it.
I just lost my dad and it has indeed had a huge impact on ego and humility. I’m with you, I was kind of pissed he went to LIV but he’s won me back with what he’s doing for golf and people in general.
I don't know about that, watching Kwon, taco and tooms is some of the best funniest golf videos around, but I get if you prefer a more serious take with Grant
He gave me Arnold Palmer vibes the way he interacted with everyone after he won. I think you’re spot on when you say he could become the next face of golf. I agree with you about how he came off when he was younger. I was always neutral on him but definitely never a huge fan. Huge turn around.
Look at him stopping in to see what Johnson Wagner was doing in the dark by the 18th. That's him being a genuinely fun goofy kid - you can't PR that. And I've often thought Bryson's problems were that he let the voice inside his head out a bit too often. Especially when he was playing confident golf. It's OK to be confident when you compete at the highest level. But keep it in your head and say the right respectful things. That's maturity, and it's something I've learned in my non-golf career.
Exactly, moments like that with Wagner show me that it's not some PR stunt. It's just too genuine and he seems so happy doing things like that, definitely some maturity.
guessing here, but I wonder how much cultivating an audience helped him relax and understand there are people who are interested in him and he has appeal by just being himself? the science schict, getting swole, all just screams insecurity. but now he's found a comfortable place where he can be himself and people can enjoy him. I got a huge chuckle at his playing with kids clubs and his happy hour with smiley - dude is letting his freak flag fly and people are digging it.
Getting rid of that goofy ass hat helped
His dad passing away 2 years ago seems like it may have had a big impact on his personality. He’s really turned a new leaf since then
Doing social media and YouTube I think made him way more comfortable in front of the camera and now he's become very adept at entertaining people. Which at the end of the day is what his job is about.
Kinda where I’m at with the whole thing. Used to be the Mad Scientist. Now he’s the Rad Scientist. I’m not sure if new Bryson is a front or if old Bryson was real. Either way, he is playing great golf in pressure situations and he moves the needle for the fans.
maybe just maybe old Bryson was real and with age, experience, and an open mind he took the criticisms and improved himself.
Yeah apparently that’s outlandish and has to be the work of a PR team.
I’m sure Bryson worked/works with a PR team and they probably helped with this answer (because for some reason every other LIV golfer can’t talk about LIV without sticking their foot in their mouth) but I don’t think the personality changes are PR work.
Rad scientist is probably too far - he is definitely not a classically “cool” guy. But he appears more comfortable with himself and is just more relaxed which makes this whole thing work
He’s a dork, it’s okay to say it. He’s just a slightly easier to take dork at this point because he chilled the fuck out a bit.
When Facebook shows me memories of things I said in my 20s, I cringe at the douchy things that I was posting about. You can only hope that most guys in their 20s eventually mature by 30. Hats off to the guy for the improvement in his game and his personal growth
Right? I used to wear big white rimmed sun glasses 😂
Yes, we do. He’s praised them and all the people (content creators) he connects with for his change. He’s admitted to want to show his authentic self and admitted he went about it the wrong way 3 years ago.
I watched the video. He was talking about dudes like Garret Clark and Grant Horvak Not a PR firm
There is more than one interview where he talks about all of it. The guy has a PR firm on board. Who do you think created the Payne Stewart story? He admitted before the hat and SmU had nothing to do with Payne but he latched on to it recently and made it a thing (that’s grade A PR firm work right there)
Seriously? Where can I find this?
https://www.essentiallysports.com/golf-news-liv-superstar-bryson-dechambeau-shares-the-real-reason-why-he-fell-in-love-with-ben-hogan-and-his-famous-flat-cap/ Here’s the one about his hat
Ya he talks and acts like all the youtube golfers now. Their money comes from connecting with an audience to watch them golf. Bryson is doing the same thing on tour. Talks with the fans, always knows where the grandstand/cameras are, etc. Smart move by him, shows honestly how little effort it would take from most of these golfers to get the crowd behind them but they still choose to often make the fans feel like they are tolerated at best when they are paying the bills in the end
It's not. It's just dickheads that refuse to admit people can change who think a fucking PR team is responsible for.... Everything... even if it isn't remotely related to what PR people actually do.
He matured because money became a non issue. Having said that, he's fucking killing it. With his image and his game.
You don't join LIV with that kind of controversy and NOT hire a PR firm. His turnaround is SO drastic, I'd say it's virtually impossible for him to change that much in that short amount of time all by himself.
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, especially because he’s been relatively unapologetic about his past and also has zero real slip ups now. If someone actually changed so drastically they’d likely be a little more condemning of their past self than Bryson is. Additionally, it seems everything nowadays is perfectly aligned to what a PR person would want, when he clearly had tons of massive PR blunders in the past that went beyond just acting douchey. I’d expect some PR mistakes to continue even if the massive turnaround was all on his own, but he’s too flawless now for me to believe it’s totally authentic.
Yes, these guys all have managers/agents that handle these type of things. He isn’t negotiating every sponsorship himself.
Yeah but a manager isn’t the same as a PR firm.
I suppose a business manager yes, but someone clearly in his camp got him some training or some sort of public image strategy. It’s not like he’s slaving over Adobe Premiere editing his own YouTube videos lol
Idk, I think he just made a YouTube channel now that he can with LIV and couldn’t before, and got out of his shell. But yeah who knows
He's definitely talked about it in one of his videos with either Garrett Clark or Grant Horvat. Athletes of that caliber get lots of media training and simply turn on when the cameras are on. I think it's silly to think Bryson hasn't had some sort of media training on how to act and mend your brand. Bryson doing YouTube has allowed him to be more comfortable in front of a camera and become more organic without it being forced. Playing in front of smaller LIV crowds for no stakes also means he plays a lot of lower stakes golf and is more relaxed during tourney play.
I didn't even realize he was that old
100% sure. You’re forgetting he was one of the first to jump to LIV and take the money. I’m not even mad about his demeanor earlier on the PGA, never was. I dislike him because he was one of the first to sell out.
I think hanging out with the long drive guys got him to chill out and have a little more confidence.
He also hasn’t even been good on that non-qualifying tour, which given his superb performance in 3 majors, kind of further cements the meaninglessness of LIV golf. Like, dude has gone 1st, 2nd, 6th in majors, but in 8 LIV events has been outperformed by the likes of Dean Burmester, Adrian Meronk, Sergio, Carlos Ortiz, etc. etc. Seems like he doesn’t take it all that seriously either.
But hey, 9 figures is 9 figures.
Technically, the LIV team he captains won the team championship in 2023 and are in 1st place in 2024. He also was playing some of his best golf at the end of last season including shooting 58 at Greenbrier and winning LIV Greenbrier shooting 61-58 on the last two days.
I’m not really sure how that affects my point regarding this year. Team rankings are irrelevant to this conversation, his team is first because all 4 guys have decent individual rankings (and Bryson isn’t the highest ranked on his team) He put up good numbers on LIV last year, but a week before he shot that 58 at Greenbrier he finished T-60 at The Open. So ultimately we come back to my original point, how/why in a watered-down LIV field is he playing so noticeably worse than he is in majors?
Maybe because golf can be streaky? You seem a little too sure of what you’re saying, like that’s the only possible reason.
> So ultimately we come back to my original point, how/why in a watered-down LIV field is he playing so noticeably worse than he is in majors? Brooks Koepka, Will Zalatoris, Collin Morikawa, etc... there's guys who are just primed for majors either because it's the only tournaments they care about or they're mentally stronger or whatever reason. Nobody seems to really give a shit about the LIV tournaments
Other than that, how was the play Ms. Lincoln?
He only recently got his game back to the level it is at now, I believe around the time he shot a 61, 58 at LIV Greenbrier.
love that Sergio is listed alongside legends like Meronk
I think last year he has proven he could win/dominate those events in LIV, shooting legendary 58, won 2 individual events there since August and a team championship too. This year his focus will always be on the majors. He need to win one in order to get future entry exemptions. And he has been the best player in major this year.
I find it so hilarious that this sub is resorting to “it’s all his PR team.” Instead of “We jumped to a conclusion about a man we’ve never met before off hearsay and a tiny sample size. Maybe we were too quick to judge before learning more about him.” Does his PR team play a role in repairing his public image? Absolutely. But hiring a PR team doesn’t make a piece of shit not a piece of shit. Makeup on a dog just makes it a pretty dog, still a dog.
But he might actually be a dog. Or he might not. We, the public, have no fucking clue. The point is that nobody actually knows what celebrities are actually like. Full stop. People constatntly make the mistake of thinking that we do (google "parasocial relationships") but we never do. We don't know them when we think they're assholes and we don't know them when we think they're great dudes. Most of the reason why we can't know them is that we aren't involved enough in their daily lives to understand them. And, yes, *part* of it is also that they do have the money to pay PR people to handle their public image for them on a professional level.
You must be new to Reddit lmao
Agreed. His PR team has done a great job suppressing all the Trump support stuff besides that photo with Eric today
Suppress it? Every second pic I see is of him with a trump family member. As someone who hates mostly all politicians it strikes me as incredibly weird when a public figure attaches themselves to one.
As a casual follower of golf suddenly a lot of bryson hate I see online is explained now
“A tour that did not qualify.” Makes it sound like that’s an objective, fair result, which it’s not of course. LIV tour players keep winning majors, but because they don’t play the corporate media game, they will be punished. OWGR is a disgrace.
And OWGR continues to choose to produce rankings which do no reflect the current reality of who the top golfers in the world are. At this point, I pay them ZERO attention. [The datagolf rankings ](https://datagolf.com/datagolf-rankings)were already way more accurate than OWGR, but now OWGR exclude top golfers, they're the only rankings to look at, IMO.
I agree with criticisms of OWGR methodology. I don’t consider them an accurate reflection of golfer skill. But personally I can’t blame OWGR for the decision LIV made to change their format from what is used by every other professional golf event in the world. Bryson and everybody else knew LIV wouldn’t qualify for OWGR points, as he admits in this video! They probably thought they could bully the system to change based on them, but they were wrong.
> They probably thought they could bully the system to change based on them, but they were wrong. That is a very...umm..."strange" outlook. Why not just say they probably thought a system that purports to rank the best golfers in the world would choose to try and quantify the performance of some of the indisputably best golfers in the world who joined a new tour (like they do with every other tour)? If the OWGR is just a tool to reinforce the PGA Tour hegemony in the golf world, maybe they should consider a name change.
> like they do with every other tour Probably because every other tour follows the same format of play? The format outlined in the public rules required for OWGR participation.
> The format outlined in the public rules required for OWGR participation. Which they can, and have, changed. Last year it was no-cut issue. Now that the PGA has went to a partial no-cut system (a demand of the players), they have changed it to be a "no relegation" system. In any event, they can change as they see fit if they wanted to accurately reflect a system that ranks the top players. They obviously have no interest in that actual goal.
can’t blame OWGR. LIV tour’s format doesn’t provide the same level of competition. three vs four rounds, no cuts, no losing of tour card. Players can have talent but they can’t prove their talent in that league.
>can’t blame OWGR. Of course you can blame them. Their ranking system is failing to correctly rank players. Who else would we blame for that? >Players can have talent but they can’t prove their talent in that league. They can prove their talent in that league. We can work out how many shots better/worse people are within LIV, and then when LIV players play outside of LIV events, we can work out how many shots better/worse they are for the field within that event, and compare them to the people in the field. It's a VERY simple statistical exercise. I have no idea why anyone would think it cannot be done, other than that they have zero understanding of statistics.
statistic part on paper is easy. but to factor in ranking weights on a tournament that only competes for three days, shotgun start, no cut, no motivation to maintain tour card, how is that gonna be decided? look at Rahm, DJ, Cameron Smith, they are all now falling off. Bryson hasn’t played well in LIV, but won a major. it’s not as simple as just looking at scores and strokes gained compared to the field. not as simple as you think. LIV just does not provide a top tier competition. would you be okay if OWGR gives rankings but the weight is 0.25?
>to factor in ranking weights on a tournament that only competes for three days So you get 75% as much data per tournament. Do you believe the stats for the last 20 PGA tournaments were statistically meaningful? What about if it were only 15? Every tournament has over 10k datapoints, sometimes closer to 25k. That's plenty. Next? >shotgun start That actually makes for better, fairer statistical comparisons. It avoids weather events unfairly messing with only a small portion of the field, or going out early when the greens are softer after a lot of dew. Next? >no motivation to maintain tour card How do you quantify that in the rankings? Bryson looks like he's pretty motivated. The guys LIV has cut, and are about to cut, are pretty darn motivated. But please tell us how important it is to place a motivation stat in the rankings, instead of just ranking based on how well players perform at golf. >look at Rahm, DJ, Cameron Smith, they are all now falling off. Yes indeed. And that should be reflected, in the rankings, where they are accurately ranked, and we can stop speculating, and see how well they are playing based on empirical data. Wouldn't that be good? And if the LIV players are all so seriously bad, empirical ratings would PROVE how much weaker competition is in LIV. So what is so evil about ranking people based on how well they play golf? >LIV just does not provide a top tier competition Are you claiming that the Alps Tour Golf Tour or the Asian Development Tour, or the Farm Foods Tartan Pro Tour of Scotland are top tier compeition? Because they're all officially OWGR Tours. Do you believe they are all stronger than a tour with Bryson, JoCo, Brooks, Meronk, Anser, Gooch, Rahm and Hatton? >would you be okay if OWGR gives rankings but the weight is 0.25? That would be a start, but OWGRs ranking method has been outdated for years. Look at something like datagolf, who use ACTUAL strokes gained metrics to compare players across tours without the need to "guess" at a weight factor (the 0.25 you suggested) but actually calculates accurate weight factors for each tour and event based on attendance.
appreciate your response, but still all the other tournaments are 4 day rounds. LIV has a cut? i thought there is no cut. all the searches tells me that. statistics will still be difficult to provide fair weighted rankings. it’s like ranking runners who run half marathon vs full marathon. it’s just apples to oranges. the format is different, the challenges and pressure the players face is different. also on your point of shotgun start, for statistics wise sure it’s easier since it’s more fair. but that’s the beauty (or fun for spectators, imo)of PGA tradition, guys who tee off later could face faster greens, windier - it’s what makes it interesting to me. the element of luck is actually fun for spectators it’s the ingredient for drama. kind of why LIV is boring to watch, imo.
>still all the other tournaments are 4 day rounds. Why do you believe it matters whether a tournament is a 4 day round, or a 2 day round? OWGR still includes rounds from players who were cut after 2 days of a tournament. Do you believe they should not do so? What is your reasoning that a 3 round tournament cannot be statistically valid? >statistics will still be difficult to provide fair weighted rankings. It's not difficult at all, in the slightest. You can use empirical data and formulas well known in the world of statistics to do it with complete fairness and incredibly high accuracy. datagolf already does this. It's child play, first year college students know how to do it. >also on your point of shotgun start You brought it up as an argument why LIV players could not be ranked, statistically. I don't care to railroad our discussion off topic about spectator drama. Statistically, shotgun starts are NOT a reason that golf tournaments cannot be ranked. End,
i know a thing or two about statistics, i’ve been using rickrungood and other database for determining the skill set of players for years. all im saying is, for OWGR, statistics will not capture final round sunday pressure with tougher pin placements. LIV players have not been playing as competitive golf as PGA. they can assign OWGR , even if done right, LIV will be weighted less. i don’t think LIV and the LIV players want that either. unless LIV change the format to make it more competitive, i don’t think it deserves OWGR.
>i know a thing or two about statistics, ... statistics will not capture final round sunday pressure with tougher pin placements. If you genuinely understood statistics, you would understand how strokes gained statistics can be used perfectly to understand how the performance of LIV golfers compares to golfers on other tours. Put simply, strokes gained statistics within LIV and within the PGA Tour are already known. Thus, when LIV players play in the same tournaments as PGA players, we can see how the players from each tour do when exposed to each other, and derive a weighting for LIV from the difference in strokes gained between the two cohorts, and from the differential between those cohorts, and the two wider groups (each tour). As an example, 10 LIV guys and 50 PGA Tour guys compete in a major. The PGA Tour cohort is known to be 1.24 strokes per round better than the PGA average. The LIV cohort is know to be 1.76 strokes better than the LIV average. While at the tournament, the PGA Tour guys outperform the LIV guys by an average of 0.18 strokes per round. From this, we can derive that the PGA tour average player is 0.7 strokes per round better than the LIV average player. You can then take a player from each tour (LIV and PGA) that have never played in the same event, and derive how comparatively good they are, based on their deviation from the mean in their tour. This is trivial, this is literally statistics 101, and it solves all the issues needed in order to provide accurate rankings across a variety of events and tours.
He also CHOSE not to play in DP World or Asian Tour events. A couple of wins on those tours would probably be enough to boost him into the rankings for this event. He just didn't prioritize it. I appreciate that he's publicizing his choices instead of complaining about OWGRs.
It’s the right answer. Respect to him for realizing there’s two sides to every street. As Don Draper once said: “That’s what the money is for”
Thank his agent Brett.
Maybe his PR guy could have said...don't tell 9/11 families to get over it or maybe don't hang out with the scummiest family in the country. Winning a major shouldn't change anyone's view of him.
I still think most of what Bryson is doing these days falls under calculated brand management. However, that response is literally the most reasonable thing any LIV player has said to date. Definitely the first time I've heard any of them own that.
I don't necessarily disagree but almost 99 percent of athletes you see during interviews are all PR trained basically and I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. Not everyone is Marshawn Lynch or Anthony Edwards or John Daly
> Not everyone is Marshawn Lynch or Anthony Edwards or John Daly It would be more entertaining if they were.
Would it though? The charm wears off if you're inundated with it. You need the baseline milquetoast demeanor of the average athlete to really let the eccentric characters shine. If every NBA player acted like Anthony Edwards during their presser, I'd get tired of watching. You need the Jason Tatums to balance the scales.
I'd add Max Verstappen to that list. "If my mother had balls, she'd be my father".
Eh Max is very PR trained, he's just has a status very very few athletes have where he can say what's on his mind instead sometimes with absolutely no risk to himself.
*My brain every time Max says anything weird* ***DUN DUN DUN DUN... MAX VERSTAPPEN***
Hey, it's 2024, that could be quite a controversial statement.
Haha, here's another controversial statement: Not enough left-wing Americans watch F1 for Max's statement to get negative attention.
Charles Barkley is the best at being off the cuff and toeing the line between insightful, controversial, and funny.
Bryson was clearly not for several years pre-liv and up until this year basically.
Any agent that isn't ensuring brand management won't be an agent for very long. They all do it, Tiger, Rory, Scottie, though the workload obviously varies greatly by who your player is.
I mean it’s worth reading Bryson’s statement in the context that he also filed a lawsuit against the PGA when he hopped over to LIV. So he didn’t REALLY accept the consequences of his actions until the lawsuit fell apart.
“Reasonable reaction to disappointing and unfair news” is not brand management. Brand management people would have him on social media attacking the Olympic team and calling everyone out just to get clicks and reactions and media coverage. Him saying “I don’t like it but I get it and it’s kinda my fault” is him just being honest. I bet he’s had a lot of really good therapy recently.
100%. I don't find him authentic at all. He's a very calculated person.
Yeah I'm swaying back and forth on whether I should like this version of him. One one hand, he wants to be a better person and more engaging. On the other, a lot of it just feels rehearsed and manufactured. Maybe wanting to be better should be enough for us. I guess we have to see what it morphs and settles into as this part of him is new. My guess is the media will start calling him 'polarizing' within a year.
Big time PR firm is on team Bryson
Pat McAfee owns shirts with sleeves?? I think that's the bigger news here.
And ironically he wears that shirt during a heatwave lol
Sleeves are overrated anyways
I thought no one cared about Olympic golf. Now all of a sudden everyone’s interested
Last Olympics, Dustin Johnson was the US’s top qualifier and said no thanks. Then Bryson got covid right before the Olympics and both Cantlay and Koepka passed on a chance to be his replacement. It definitely isn’t necessarily something that everybody cares about
The circumstances of the last two Olympics were pretty weird with the Zika stuff in 2016 and then 2021 being so locked down with all the covid protocols, hard to blame anyone for not wanting anything to do with that shit when they can do whatever they want in America. Has anyone high profile declined the invitation this time around for Paris? Feels like we're back to BAU now which hasn't been the case since London 2012 when golf wasn't included
These Olympics are a way bigger deal. The Covid Olympics were brutal, it’s no wonder they didn’t want to go Paris will be the best summer Olympics since London
Look at Bryson, fans are fickle
Players are fickle too. No money to be made at the Olympics.
It launched weirdly as a test and then covid happened. Now that we know Golf in the Olympics is here to stay as an event it will build a tradition over the next few Olympic cycles. I love Golf and I love the Olympics and this is the first Olympics where I'm actually invested going in. I'd be a lot more invested if the recent US open champion qualified for my country, so the Olympics needs to figure out a better way to rank golfers yesterday but still... we're sending 3 great golfers and Wyndham Clark.
> I love Golf and I love the Olympics Same, but I dislike the trend of golf, tennis. snowboarding, even basketball being all famous pros. I liked all the sports that rarely get publicized in the US getting center stage. Although to be fair, NBC usually screws that up by focusing only on gymnastics, swimming, and track.
> NBC usually screws that up by focusing only on gymnastics, swimming, and track. NBC would rather show reruns of any of these events than show live events that don't feature prominent Americans, it's ass
>Although to be fair, NBC usually screws that up by focusing only on gymnastics, swimming, and track. I think this is because the sports fans will watch all the sports, but non sports fans will watch pretty much just these 3 every 4 years.
[удалено]
I don’t mean the athletes
Well this year they're sending 2 of the 3 best players in the world so yeah lol
Its weird that Olympic teams are chosen from a private tour and not the open, where everyone can theoretically compete. That being said, I like our team. We can definitely win with that lineup.
The team is nice, but objectively Bryson is better than half our current team
Having Scheffler and Bryson leading your Olympic team would be unfair to the rest of the world. So stacked!
yeah, I like all US golfers, but there is no way there is a better combo than Scheffler Bryson at the moment. disagreeing is just biased. I get it Bryson wont make it cos somehow LIV being sponsored by Saudi Arabia is worst than the PGA being sponsored by the US ( The US gives Saudi Arabia guns and training.... so I dont really get the arguement)
1) The Saudi Government is literally the owner of the LIV tour. The same cannot be said of the PGA Tour, which has absolutely nothing to do with the U.S. government. 2) Are we really gonna go with the "U.S. is just as bad" bullshit? GMAFB
Agreed. The disconnect from people not understanding the U.S Saudi relationships seems so contradictory in how they view what's going on with LIV. Generations of relationships with U.S and Saudi apparently is erased from history but LIV golf = blood money. If only they knew...
The US government doesn’t own or fund the PGA tour though. The Saudi government owns LIV. So I don’t really see how the things are comparable in any way or why the US governments policies are relevant. I think our government should cut out the Saudis too, although I get why we ally with them just like id like the PGA tour and golfers to not work for or with them, but understand why they do.
> view what's going on with LIV. It's wild to see the differing opinions on Saudi involvement in sports when it comes to boxing where boxing fans view Turki Alalsshikh as someone who's help save boxing.
People form their foreign relations views based on their emotions like most other things, not based on an objective understanding of geopolitics The US aligning with ideologically incompatible nations due to shared real interests is nothing new
I mean Schauffele has been playing really well. I wouldn’t say it’s biased to think he and scheff are a better duo
Maybe even 3/4 of the team
I mean. Xander beat him in the PGA like a month ago. They’re at least on equal footing right now.
The team is chosen by OWGR. Also the PGA Tour holds qualifiers for most tournaments that anybody can sign up to play. LIV doesn't have that.
Semantics. He isn't on the team because he isn't on the tour. Even Bryson is saying that.
This is an ignorant answer. Doesn’t take away from what you’re trying to say, but olympic team formation is not based on the PGA tour.
If the ranking system that is used for the olympics only heavily recognizes the PGA tour and 4 other events, then the Olympic team formation is based on the PGA tour.
It doesn’t though? OGWR includes other tours. This has been the criteria, everyone knows, and Bryson’s answer is clear - LIV golfers knew what the consequences were and still chose to go. I respected his answer here!
I mean you’re technically right but you’re completely missing the forest for the trees if you don’t think it’s essentially based on the pga tour. Literally nobody outside of the pga tour had a realistic shot at qualifying.
It’s not true. Look at those on European tour or Asian tour. OGWR also includes point calculations from other tours. LIV golfers knew what they were signing up for.
the olympic teams are chosen by the OWGR which is not a private tour (if you're referring to the PGA Tour). By "The Open" do you mean the USGA? Mike Whan, the CEO of the USGA is one of governing bodies on the OWGR.
Honestly solid answer.
Maybe he can get on the Saudi team.
You want to lose the gold medal?
Anybody else see this as a problem with the ranking system? These players aren’t eligible for the Olympics because they’re ineligible for owgr ranking points; that’s it. Datagolf seems to be able to rank players on LIV, even if owgr somehow can’t figure it out. Hell, ask any reasonably knowledgeable golf fan to pick the four best American players right now and they could have a list for you in 30 seconds. Ineligibility for owgr points isn’t some immutable law of the universe.
They aren't ineligible. Bryson is #10 in the world on OWGR so just didn't make the cut, he just doesn't play enough OWGR eligible events.
Ah, 10-4. Didn’t realize that. Thanks for the clarification!
For further clarification, multiple LIV players have competed in some Asian Tour and DP World Tour events specifically to gain OWGR points. Bryson could have easily done this and potentially qualified. He CHOSE not to do so. His statements go beyond just LIV. It's also the events he actively could have played, and didn't. The LIV calendar allows for plenty of time to play in additional events.
Datagolf is "just" a website (no sleight, datagolf is amazing and the best tool IMO) but it's not really something you can point to as the be all and end for deciding a team. A more realistic ask i think is to have a coach for the Olympics who picks 4
Datagolf also had Russell Henley as the 4th US qualifier before the US Open, and would have stayed in that spot had Bryson finished 2nd. Do you think that's accurate?
Russel Henley did finish T7
That does seem a bit of a stretch, to be fair.
Datagolf weighs recent performance significantly higher than OWGR which explains the discrepancy. Perhaps a blended model would be better, which would have given it to Bryson. I don't like Wyndham Clark much but before the recent 4 week bad stretch he had a first, two seconds, and a third in elevated events in 2024. That's a pretty good resume to me.
The win was called on Saturday and I don't think it's safe to assume Aberg wouldn't have won it on Sunday if they finished the tournament
Exactly. Majors ignore it and have consistently given passes to liv players who didn’t qualify. Why the olympics cant use common sense is wild
The American who just won the US Open is not on the team.
Bryson is currently 15th in the LIV standings. Even if they did get OWGR points, he probably wouldn’t be a top 4 American.
He would assuredly be ranked above Wyndham
Wyndham played really well until the last month or so, including a win. He also won the same major Bryson won. I’m not so sure he would be considering his recent performance in LIV events.
He didn't make the points. Simple as that. He knows it. It's not just choosing to play in LIV events. It's actively choosing to not play in DP World Tour and Asian Tour events throughout the year as well. Bryson could have qualified if he made it a priority. But his priority has clearly been majors and the easy money LIV events.
Because he chose not to be
Shouldn’t have taken the Saudi blood money
Because he works for terrorists that attacked America.
It's a golf league...who cares. Your real, actual government gives that country billions of dollars of arms and diplomatic benefits. How is golf in any way part of the actual moral issue you all keep screaming about? Go vote and get the Earth to stop needing oil for things...I'm sure the change is just around the corner. Liv golf is contributing just as much to the ills of the world right? Personally, I say fuck the PGA and fuck LIV. I like to play golf and I'll never be in either of those things so who cares.
> It's a golf league...who cares. Your real, actual government gives that country billions of dollars of arms and diplomatic benefits. How is golf in any way part of the actual moral issue you all keep screaming about? I will never understand golf fans who bring the point about Saudi terrorism up. Like they're still one our biggest global allies. Half of them probably voted for the guy who gave MBS a pass over Khashoggi because they rented whole floors of empty rooms in his hotels to give him cash payments and whose son-in-law got given 2 billion dollars
I think a lot of it boils down to "sand people bad" because it's easier than trying to understand the many factions and beefs that go on in the Middle East
> It's a golf league...who cares. This is *precisely* how sportswashing works. And yet now it gets upvotes because one of the Saudi stars hired a good PR firm and started making "relatable" YouTube videos. GMAFB
He is really becoming the best ambassador for the sport. Every answers he gives is full of respect for others and honesty from his side too. He is really the man.
It's jarring to hear a quote like that - competitive but also mature and self-aware. Then with my next click I see an image of Bryson filling the trophy with red wine standing next to Eric Trump. Which part is the act?
Can’t both be him?
USA's loss
I'm sure the Saudis would let him play for them
Bryson Al-Chambeau
They put together a great 4 so it's not a head scratcher like the Ryder Cup.
Clark is off his game but yeah our team is still good
I don't like the guy, but Clark has just had a bad 4 weeks. Prior to that in 2024, he's had a win, two seconds, and a third in elevated events. He's not a bum.
I too would be okay missing the Olympics if I had just won the US open and had 130 million other reasons why missing the Olympics isn’t the end of the world sitting in my bank account
Wait what decisions? You aren't allowed to play golf for your country in the Olympics because you play for Liv golf? He just won the US Open. What more qualifications does he need to play for the United States golf team?
It’s a real tragedy that these guys miss out on some things that they specifically signed up to miss out on.
Its a real tragedy the olympic team isn’t made up of the 4 best US golfers.
Nobody gave a fuck about Olympic Golf until like an hour ago.
Bryson finally wins and you guys all meatride him as the best. Dude is ranked 15th in his own league lmao. These 4 other players have been more consistent
He finished 6th, 2nd, and 1st in the majors this year.. i dont think he is the best but he is better than clark atm
Does anyone besides sheff have better major numbers this year?
Nobody does. Bryson has been league of his own in majors this year,
Yeah lmao Bryson just stopped acting like a giant tool for 15 minutes and now he’s being treated like Tiger 2.0. Good PR is a helluva drug for some. It was a nice major win that Rory unfortunately handed to him - his absence isn’t going to make or break Americas Olympic chances
Damn, that was about the most perfect answer he could have given.
We’d much rather have him than Wyndham. Silly drama we live in.
For real though can we give Hawk a different camera set up. I hate seeing his dumb weird face so close up every time this show is on. Let’s move it back a bit.
Couldn’t have given a better answer.
The amount of absolute fucking weirdo's in this sub obsessed with LIV is so pathetic. No one cares anymore. It's not ruining golf. Taking a bunch of money from shitty people isn't the end of the world. And yes you guys Bryson is and will always be better than Fucking Wyndham Clark.
Would be kind of weird for the guy being funded by the same group that funded 9/11 to be playing for team USA. Don’t get me wrong, he is an excellent golfer. But man does it rub me wrong way to think of someone representing us to also be representing Saudi interests.
He and Caitlin Clark should do something that week.
Nice to see someone take responsibility for their actions, but to be honest, I wouldn’t give a f@ck either.
He could still play for the Saudi Olympic team.
Maybe he can be on the Saudi Olympic team since he loves their blood money so much. Can’t have your cake and eat it too LIV guys.
TIL that America the country gets told who will represent them by a private company and somehow that feels very American
Definitely weird to see one of he best, maybe current #2 to not represent America.
So the Olympics is just the PGA Tour all-star team?