We\u2019re back after a couple of weeks on the lam, and of course we have to start with the $500-million-dollar elephant in the room \u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a terrible, no good, very bad spring for Bryson DeChambeau. Back in January, after Brooks Koepka\u2019s return to the PGA Tour was announced, CEO Brian Rolapp offered him a life raft<\/a>. To the surprise of many, DeChambeau didn\u2019t take it. In the middle of negotiating a new LIV Golf contract, DeChambeau saw Koepka\u2019s move as potential leverage. He made cryptic social media posts<\/a> about his future and spoke about the \u201cincredibly viable\u201d option<\/a> of doing YouTube full time. Some in golf believed his asking price could rise as high as half a billion (yes, with a B) dollars.<\/p>\n When the Saudi Public Investment Fund pulled funding for LIV Golf last month, it turned the golf world upside down \u2026 again. Suddenly DeChambeau\u2019s gravy train had run out of gravy. The two-time major champion won back to LIV events in Singapore and South Africa, but he was emotional after the latter<\/a>, only telling reporters that \u201csome things\u201d had happened. He followed that with two non-competitive missed cuts at both the Masters and PGA Championship, raising questions about whether his YouTube golf fallback plan was anything but a bluff.<\/p>\n That all led to this week, when DeChambeau joined the Katie Miller Podcast [Miller is the wife of controversial White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller] to discuss not only why he believes the moon landing footage was faked<\/a>, but the fork in the road he now finds himself at.<\/p>\n DeChambeau\u2019s quote was delivered with a laugh, but one little word said a lot. Three months ago, DeChambeau was talking about doing YouTube and playing major golf. Now he’s talking about doing YouTube or playing major golf. It\u2019s a subtle shift in tone, but it shows how DeChambeau\u2019s mindset has changed in the wake of two disastrous major performances.<\/p>\n In those two showings, DeChambeau has looked completely lost on the course, and now we\u2019re seeing a big reason why: He\u2019s lost off of it. Yes, he\u2019s built an empire, but it seems to be a lonely one. He was practically bullied off the PGA Tour<\/a>. In the vast majority of his social media videos, he appears alone\u2014dancing in front of a Christmas tree by himself<\/a> in a particularly cringe and poignant example. When he does win, as he did at LIV South Africa, clearly emotional and in need of a shoulder to lean on, there\u2019s no significant other or children there for him. His older brother Garrett goes by a different last name. His mother Jan is said to be one of his biggest supporters but rarely appears, while his father passed away in 2022. Now he\u2019s appearing on highly politicized podcasts questioning the moon landing as much as his own future. If you were to recreate the male loneliness epidemic in a test tube, this is what it would look like.<\/p>\n Now DeChambeau arrives at not just a career crossroads, but a personal one. Does he continue striving for the goals he\u2019s defined his life by or does he get off the ride and find another way forward<\/a>? It\u2019s a huge question; one that\u2019s not just about the PGA Tour or YouTube but about fundamental happiness. And without an evident support system in place, it\u2019s made even harder. We\u2019d wager that DeChambeau will stick to what he knows, and redouble his focus on professional golf in some shape or form, but whatever decision he makes, we can only hope that it brings him peace, stability and, maybe one day, even a little company.<\/p>\n Brad Dalke celebratesbecoming a YGT captain with a match at Wynn Golf Club<\/a>\u2014the site of the upstart influencer tour\u2019s $1 million finale\u2014against fellow skippers Wesley Bryan and Grant Horvat. Congratulations, fellas. Here\u2019s hoping this thing is A. viable and B. fun.<\/p>\n Some troll with an old-timey train robber mustache takes on Joey Cold Cuts in another Hater\u2019s Match<\/a>. You know what to do.<\/p>\n Cheating is a big no-no in golf \u2026 but what if players agree to it ahead of time and are only penalized if they get caught? Could that be a fun new concept or just golf\u2019s version of the XFL? Sean Walsh dares to find out<\/a>.<\/p>\n Good Good continue their descent into a reality TV brand with the $10,000 Secret Golf Challenge<\/a>, in which one player is handed $10K but only gets to keep it if they can keep the secret from the other guys for 24 hours. Honestly, I don\u2019t know how golf factors into this\u2014I tuned out after about five seconds\u2014but it appears there still is some, so that\u2019s a good thing \u2026 I guess?<\/p>\n After the Good Good Guys\u2019 $1 to $100,000 road trip earlier this year, the Good Good Girls are borrowing the rags to riches format for the $100 to $10,000 road trip<\/a>. We\u2019d love to see the ladies get to play for the big bucks, but at least they\u2019re not being asked to survive a night on a single dollar. Dudes will crash on a park bench and eat dinner out of a vending machine. The fairer sex? Well, let\u2019s just say they\u2019re called the \u201cfairer\u201d sex for a reason.<\/p>\n