What Tiger Woods ‘knew’ about Bryson DeChambeau that Keegan Bradley has ignored

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It’s hard to work out whether Bryson DeChambeau is Keegan Bradley’s biggest strength or weakness at the Ryder Cup.

Bryson DeChambeau is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world. He’s a long-driving, hard-hitting, crowd-pumping machine who is adored by his home crowd at Bethpage Black. The two-time U.S. Open winner has access to areas of the golf course that others simply don’t off the tee. 

On the other hand, he’s a difficult partner for anybody on the U.S. Team. DeChambeau uses a different ball from everyone else, which makes it challenging for anyone to adapt to him in foursomes. 

Captain Keegan Bradley gave DeChambeau a vote of confidence despite this. Partnered with Justin Thomas, he was picked to tee off first for Friday foursomes, in the opening match of the Ryder Cup. 

But according to Rex Hoggard, Tiger Woods knew something about DeChambeau that Bradley is ignoring. 

Tiger Woods ‘knew’ Bryson DeChambeau cannot play foursomes

Woods, the greatest of all time, knew DeChambeau’s team play ability well. He partnered with him during the 2018 Ryder Cup for foursomes and captained him at the 2019 Presidents Cup. 

During that 2019 event, Woods didn’t play DeChambeau in foursomes. He had just lost as a partner of Woods and Phil Mickelson a year prior at the Ryder Cup. Hoggard, on the Golf Channel Podcast, said Woods’ decision was telling. 

He explained, “His foursomes record is simply awful, there’s no way around it. He’s 0-2 in foursomes play. He played and lost with Phil Mickelson, he played and lost with Tiger Woods. He didn’t even play foursomes in 2021. It gives you an idea, they didn’t even trot him out.

“[2019] Presidents Cup, the only time he’s ever played the Presidents Cup, he didn’t even play foursomes. Why? Tiger Woods was the captain, and he knew he’s not good for that format.

“I’m not passing judgement on Bryson as a player, or certainly as a person. There’s a lot of world class players that don’t particularly like that format. It’s weird, it’s different, some people just don’t fit. He doesn’t fit.

DeChambeau is playing first at the Ryder Cup, in perhaps the most important matchup for Team USA’s entire tournament. It appears Bradley thinks his star man is a different player than the one who paired with Woods seven years ago. 

Bryson DeChambeau’s foursomes record

Hoggard is right, DeChambeau has an abysmal foursomes record. So much so that he wasn’t even trusted to play the format at the 2021 Ryder Cup. 

He played with Woods and Mickelson, two of the all-time greats, in 2018, and lost both matches convincingly. He fell five and four in both, then lost his Sunday singles match to Alex Noren to further rub salt in his wounds. 

To some extent, he made up for his poor 2018 Ryder Cup three years later with an undefeated outing at Whistling Straits. He went 1-0-1 in four-ball with Scottie Scheffler, then beat Sergio Garcia in singles. 

But not even being selected for foursomes since 2018 could leave a shadow of doubt in the back of DeChambeau’s mind. That’s the last thing you need when teeing off in a pressure-cooker at Bethpage Black, especially going against the experienced pairing of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.