Nick Faldo, a six-time major champion and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, has openly criticized Bryson DeChambeau, a prominent figure in LIV Golf, ahead of The Open at Royal Birkdale. Faldo, 68, expressed his thoughts on DeChambeau’s golf strategy, or lack thereof, during an interview with Sky Sports.
“That’s a whole part of the story, how they’re superstars at LIV then come over and can’t do it. So that’s all another story. Then they go back to be superstars. He has — I’d say it to his face — he has zero clue of strategy,”
Faldo mentioned a remark DeChambeau made a year ago, during which the 32-year-old golfer expressed his intention to aggressively approach links golf courses.
“He said it last year I think on TV: ‘I’m going to go out and attack the links.’ Well, I’ve never attacked a links. You thread it, don’t you? You feed it down the fairway,”
Faldo emphasized the importance of playing strategically on the course, advocating for a measured approach to navigating humps and bumps rather than attempting to bomb the ball down the fairway.
Faldo further commented on DeChambeau’s reluctance to adapt his strategy.
“I mean, on all this, even if you hit it fantastic, it lands on the corner of a divot, you still miss the fairway. So, you’ve got to think, how do I get it on the short grass? It is so important, and he’ll stand up and just keep bombing away,”
DeChambeau has struggled during this major season, missing the cut at The Masters, The U.S. Open, and PGA Championship. Despite qualifying for this year’s Open Championship due to his top 10 finish last year, he still faces challenges.
In order to rebut Faldo’s criticism, DeChambeau must perform well in the initial rounds of The Open to make the cut this year. His ability to earn a reported $500 million deal, upon the expiration of his LIV Golf contract, depends on his success at golf’s final major of the year.
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