Why We’d Love To See Bryson DeChambeau Go Behind Enemy Lines To Avoid Ryder Cup Rust
With Bryson DeChambeau banned from joining his USA teammates in their PGA Tour warm-up, could he go behind enemy lines to get his Ryder Cup prep in?


USA captain Keegan Bradley will not have Bryson DeChambeau playing in his planned Ryder Cup warm-up event on the PGA Tour - so does he run the risk of being rusty at Bethpage Black?
Bradley has picked out the Procore Championship in Napa as his Ryder Cup warm-up, and says most of his team will be playing in the PGA Tour's Fall Series event.
Several Americans have spoken of them being a bit rusty when they turned up in Rome last time having not played for a month or so after the Tour Championship ends the season in the US.
Not wanting to make the same mistake again, Bradley's boys will play in Napa - but DeChambeau cannot join them as he's banned from PGA Tour events due to playing in LIV Golf.
So as its stands DeChambeau would go into the Ryder Cup without any competitive action in a month, with next week's LIV Golf Team Championship his final scheduled tournament.
So how can they solve this problem? Maybe the answer lies with DeChambeau going and playing behind enemy lines.
It may not just be DeChambeau either, as Brooks Koepka and even Patrick Reed could be in Bradley's thinking for a possible wildcard pick for the Ryder Cup.
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And there's no chance of the PGA Tour making an exception, as it has already told Sports Illustrated that DeChambeau's suspension won't be lifted.
First and foremost it's a blow to morale, as playing Napa would also be a good team bonding experience, and not having DeChambeau (or any other LIV players) there won't help.
Bethpage Black is not the type of course and the Ryder Cup is definately not the type of event where players can turn up rusty, as we saw in Rome, but DeChambeau may have another option.
And that option looks like being ducking behind enemy lines and going to play on the DP World Tour alongside Luke Donald's Europeans in one of their key warm-up events in Ireland.
As the Amgen Irish Open at The K Club looks to be the perfect prep outing for DeChambeau as he can tackle a parkland course and face the likes of Rory McIlroy and even Donald himself who is teeing it up in the field.
DeChambeau wouldn't be the only LIV Golf player in the field either as Koepka has confirmed his place in the Irish Open along with Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia.
Adding the two-time US Open champion to the field would certainly give the Irish Open an extra layer of intrigue, with DeChambeau always a big draw but even more so with the event coming just a couple of weeks before the Ryder Cup starts in New York.
Defending champion Rasmus Hojgaard won a thrilling Irish Open last year with his late surge denying McIlroy a home victory, but this year will hold even more Ryder Cup talking points, especially if DeChambeau takes part.
Most, if not all, of Donald's European team will play at Wentworth at the BMW PGA Championship while the Open de France the week after could offer some players a last-minute tune-up.

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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