Bryson DeChambeau Makes Surprise Gear Change Prior To First Round Of Open Championship
The big-hitting American made another change to his equipment for The Open, opting to return to a familiar driver
Bryson DeChambeau has made another change at the top of his bag in a bid to tame Royal Birkdale and get his hands on the Claret Jug.
The two-time Major champion arrived in Southport with a fresh set of 3D-printed irons, but he didn’t stop there.
After raising eyebrows earlier in the year when he ditched his Krank driver for a TaylorMade Qi4D Proto 200+ ahead of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, DeChambeau has now reverted back to his previous big stick.
The Krank is back, but it has been modified to help him find more fairways. Specifically, DeChambeau wants to take the left side out of play, and he clearly feels happier with the solution Krank have come up with to help him achieve that.
It certainly seems to be paying dividends so far. The 32-year-old gained nearly two shots off the tee against the field during a three-under 67 on Thursday that has him well placed to end his run of missed cuts in the Majors.
DeChambeau’s chances this week were virtually written off in the build-up by Sir Nick Faldo, who accused the American of having “zero clue” about how to play links golf.
But if the first round is anything to go by, those comments could be debunked emphatically. In fact, if not for a cold putter, DeChambeau would likely hold the clubhouse lead on his own.
DeChambeau had been speaking to TaylorMade's Senior Tour Manager, Adrian Rietveld, on Wednesday during a practice day
As it stands, he is well positioned just one behind the leading duo of Sungjae Im and Dan Brown.
Faldo was not the only major voice in golf to throw some criticism in DeChambeau’s direction ahead of the final men’s Major of 2026.
Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee also stuck the knife in, saying: “It’s almost like he went from chasing Scottie [Scheffler] and Rory [McIlroy] to chasing Grant Horvat.
“It’s like he wants to outdo every YouTuber in the game instead of outplay everybody in the game of golf.”
Bryson told the R&A he was not doing any media, print or TV. They asked if he’d answer some pre-submitted questions from one of their staff and he agreed. Just an FYI.July 16, 2026
Whether he was irked by these comments, by his putting struggles or maybe because he simply did not want to, DeChambeau opted against addressing the assembled media after his first round at Birkdale.
He did answer some pre-submitted questions from an R&A official, though. Asked about his round, he said: "It was a hard fought battle out there. The wind was switching quite a bit. It was fun seeing the fans going at us, and they were rooting for all of us.
"It was fun just seeing the ups and downs of the group, but we all played pretty well. It was a lot of fun.
"There's some driving holes out there I've got to work on. Other than that, I played really well. Made some good putts and three-putted once, but that's life."
