Bryson DeChambeau’s emotional recount of his childhood inspiration at a charity event highlights his commitment to inspiring the next generation of golfers, a passion evident in his interactions with fans at the inaugural LIV Golf South Africa event. Picture: LIV Golf
Image: LIV Golf
The most poignant moment of Bryson DeChambeau’s winner’s press conference at LIV Golf South Africa came when he was asked why inspiring the next generation is so important to him.
There’s no question that DeChambeau was the most popular player in the field last week at the inaugural LIV Golf event in SA at The Club at Steyn City.
Each day after his round, DeChambeau saw to it that he signed or took selfies with every single fan that waited for him.
On the first day of the tournament, it took him 27 minutes after he came out of the media centre and was surrounded by fans.
By the final day, an extra barrier had been erected, and fans waited patiently along an 80-metre-long section.
Not even the four South Africans in the field— Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Dean Burmester, and Branden Grace— commanded anything close to that kind of fanfare.
Earlier in the week, DeChambeau said interacting with the fans energised him— and that might sound like a stretch after a five-hour round of golf and a press conference.
Yet the American was being completely genuine.
When asked how important it was to inspire youngsters, DeChambeau explained how he knew professional golf would be his ultimate path.
He said that LIV gave players the opportunity to inspire kids across the globe.
“When I was 11 years old, I'll never forget, with my dad at River Bend Golf Club, it's now called Dragonfly, it was the SaveMart Shootout, and Peter Jacobsen and Sign Boy, Nick Watney, Jason Gore, numerous other players were there. Arnold Palmer was there, Nancy Lopez, Annika Sorenstam. They were all there for this charity event.
“I somehow got lucky enough to go up and hit a few shots in front of everybody, in front of the pros and all the guests there. I just got to hit three shots in front of them, and it was the most nerve-racking moment in my entire life as an 11-year-old. You get up there and you see all these pros, these guys that have won, major champions, and this whole crowd staring at you, and you've got Peter Jacobsen and Sign Boy just giving you a bunch of crap.”
DeChambeau went on to explain how nervous he was, so much so that he could not feel his hands while he was hitting those shots.
“I striped three drives right down the middle. You could lay a blanket over them at that time. They were great shots.”
It was then that DeChambeau began to take long pauses, as he became emotional: “I'll never forget walking off, and every single one of those professionals came over and signed my hat and said, ‘We’ll see you out there one day.’
“That’s why I do it...
“Because ... I hope to inspire somebody like that.”
I, for one, think he’s already achieved that.