'He's Woefully Off His Game This Year' - Brandel Chamblee Labels Bryson DeChambeau 'Too Linear' To Enjoy Success At 'Abstract' Augusta National

NBC Sports analyst Brandel Chamblee does not foresee another strong week for Bryson DeChambeau at The Masters in 2025, labelling the LIV golfer as "too linear" to deal with the "abstract" nature of Augusta National and suggesting the 31-year-old is "woefully off his game."

DeChambeau had failed to finish inside the top-20 in any of his first seven appearances at Augusta - missing the cut in 2022 and 2023 - before kicking off a brilliant year at the Majors with a first top-10.

The two-time Major winner ended T6th at The Masters last April after leading the way at the end of round one with a superb seven-under 65. He was also co-leader after 36 holes despite a one-over 73, but two further over-par outings at the weekend put paid to his chances of victory.

It was during Saturday's play that the Californian made his only real significant error of the championship, carding a double-bogey seven on the par-5 15th. Otherwise, DeChambeau recorded 17 birdies and 13 bogeys to end the week at two-under.

While he finished some nine strokes behind Scottie Scheffler, 2024 marked a significant upturn in performance for a player who once rather naively called Augusta National a par-67.

But despite a breakthrough championship and only a matter of months on from his dramatic US Open triumph over Rory McIlroy, DeChambeau is not being viewed as a likely contender for this term's Green Jacket, according to Chamblee.

Asked during the Golf Central Live At The Masters press conference on Tuesday whether DeChambeau had "turned a corner at Augusta" now, Chamblee replied: "No, I don’t.

"I still don’t think the course is a great fit for him. Of course, he’s a phenomenal player, so he’s certainly capable of playing some really good golf there. It’s just not a great fit for him.

"I referenced this last year, but if you go back 25 years, the winners, there’s 1,800 holes they would have played en route to winning the Masters. Collectively, they’ve made six double bogeys in 1,800 holes. That’s .003 percent of the time they’ve made mistakes. He makes almost two and a half on average every time he plays the Masters.

"His big miss there, which is fine the way they set up US Open golf courses these days, gets him in trouble at Augusta National. There are some places there you just can’t miss it big. His in-to-out move is not ideal for a lot of the hanging lies or the hook lies there that you get. He gets some pretty big surprises in that regard."

In Chamblee's eyes, it is not only DeChambeau's unique style of golf which does not fill the NBC analyst with tons of confidence, but also his form so far this season.

After finishing second at the Asian Tour's International Series India in February, the Californian opened up his LIV campaign with a T6th result in Riyadh before going T18th in Adelaide and T20th in Hong Kong.

DeChambeau returned to the top-10 in Singapore last time out, but - according to Data Golf - has been struggling with his putting, losing around half a shot to the field in three of his four LIV starts.

In addition, DeChambeau's approach game has not been up to its usual standard in 2025 either, with the two-time US Open champion losing roughly a shot to the field in Australia and Hong Kong. But, per Data Golf, the American has gained shots around the green in every event so far this year.

Nevertheless, Chamblee continued his view on DeChambeau not being among the favorites at The Masters.

He said: "To Paul [McGinley]’s point, he’s woefully off his game this year. It’s hard to make sense - it’s like looking at ancient war stories trying to make sense of LIV’s stats. But he’s towards the bottom of the field in scrambling on LIV.

"To the extent that those fields are weak and depleted, he’s towards the bottom of the field in scrambling. No, I just don’t think it’s a great fit for him.

"Again, he’s a heck of a player. He’s capable of playing some great golf there under the right conditions, but generally speaking, no, he’s too linear, and that golf course is too abstract."

DeChambeau's scoring average across eight championships so far is 72.75, with a high score of 80 and a low of 65. He has made the cut six times so far but only managed seven under-par rounds around Augusta National.

Per DraftKings Sportsbook, DeChambeau is priced at +2000 and the seventh favorite to win The Masters in 2025.