Peter Finch suggests ‘weird’ event involving Bryson DeChambeau was the biggest golfing story of 2024 over Scottie Scheffler

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It is easy to forget now but heading into The Open Championship, there appeared to be a real possibility that Scottie Scheffler would have a genuine rival for the player of the year in 2024 in the form of Bryson DeChambeau.

Of course, Scottie Scheffler was the overwhelming favourite for the title. However, Bryson DeChambeau triumphed in one of the greatest days in major championship history at the US Open. That victory at Pinehurst seemed to confirm that the Crushers GC captain had become arguably the most popular player on the planet.

Scheffler was ultimately, by some distance, the best male player in the world in 2024. And many will argue that the moment of the year came at the PGA Championship when he was came back from being arrested to make a 66 in the second round at Valhalla. The world number one’s coach said it was Scheffler’s best ever round.

But perhaps that was not everyone’s story of the year.

How Bryson DeChambeau created golf’s story of the year in 2024

In a surreal turn of events, DeChambeau made a Break 50 video with Donald Trump while the 78-year-old was stepping up his presidential campaign. And Trump surprised many with his ability, with the pair coming incredibly close to beating the challenge.

And speaking on The Rough Cut Golf Podcast, Peter Finch explained why he would put DeChambeau and Trump in a video together ahead of Scheffler’s arrest as a story, as he also expressed his surprise at what the LIV Golf star has managed to achieve in the last few years.

“I think as far as a story, the Scottie one is definitely up there. But within our bubble, I think Trump and Bryson, it was such a weird thing and it was such a shock to the system that something like that would happen, but it also made perfect sense why it did. And it just encapsulated this moment in time where it was like, ‘oh my god, Bryson’s a YouTuber’,” he said.

“I can’t think of anyone who’s turned around their popularity so much as Bryson. It’s kind of unbelievable, because it wasn’t that long ago that people really didn’t get him, didn’t really like him. And now, he’s probably the most popular golfer on the planet,” he would later add.

How DeChambeau’s video with Donald Trump performed

DeChambeau has had a remarkable run on YouTube, with his channel boasting 1.65 million subscribers. That makes him one of the biggest creators on the platform.

And the video with Trump is, by the far, the most viewed video on DeChambeau’s channel. At the time of writing, it has 13 million views, while the next most viewed has 6.1 million views.

Whatever someone thinks of Trump, it was impossible to deny that it was a fascinating video. Everyone has probably heard a story about how good or bad Trump is at golf, but they may not have seen him actually play.

Clearly, it was a moment – as Finch suggests – that everyone interested in golf could not bring themselves to ignore.