Bryson DeChambeau has revealed the "torture" he has felt this year that included him considering calling it a day on his golf career due to negative comments on social media.
It has been a year full of Bryson DeChambeau headlines, whether that was on his 'feud' with Brooks Koepka, saying that his driver "sucks" or his comments on the Covid-19 vaccine. It was his vaccine comments that led him to stop talking to the media during tournaments, which he has kept up since August's WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational.
“The thing is, the vaccine doesn’t necessarily prevent it from happening," the 2020 US Open champion told the Golf Channel after returning to action following the positive test that meant he missed the Olympics.
"That’s where for me, I’m young enough, I’d rather give it to people that need it. I don’t need it. I’m healthy. I’m a young individual that will continue to be healthy and continue to work on my health. But I don’t think that taking a vaccine away from someone that could need it is a good thing.”
Despite some obligatory media at the Ryder Cup, the Golfing Scientist has refrained from speaking at press conferences during his tournament appearances over the last few months, and in an exclusive with the New York Post he has revealed the "torture" he has been through in 2021.
He told the NY Post: “I just felt like, ‘I don’t need any of this. Why? Why put myself though all this torture?’ I got hit pretty hard. That’s why I kind of walked away, because people were damaging [my] character. It was all the stuff that was going on in social media. I was like, ‘I really don’t need this. I can walk away and be totally fine the rest of my life, be happy and go and hit the long ball and call it a day.’
“I couldn’t let down the people that were around me, the people that truly believed in me. So, I said, ‘No Bryson, you can do this for a long time.’ I had great people around me, and things changed for me. I got back to a place where I felt like I could continue.”
DeChambeau's change in mindset came about after speaking with his friend Chris Pratt, who has starred in movies including a number of Marvel titles and Jurassic World.
“Chris Pratt told me, ‘Look, when I’m doing a movie and people are saying the movie’s terrible and I’m not a good actor, that doesn’t define me,’ ” DeChambeau said. "I respect him, respect his opinion. He’s got a lot of great life advice from things he’s been through — some troubling times. He told me when I’m out on the golf course, people are going to define you and relate you to the golf. What really defines you is the person you are outside the game of golf. You’ve got to look at it as an opportunity to show people who you truly are.”
