Bryson DeChambeau competed really well in the majors during the 2025 season.
DeChambeau had real chances to win The Masters and the PGA Championship but came up just short in the end in both of them.
The LIV Golf star faces a hugely important year now. He will be desperate to get over the line and win a major.
If he doesn’t, the questions will start again regarding the wisdom behind his switch to LIV Golf.
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Interestingly, the 32-year-old is still yet to commit to signing a new contract with LIV, with his current deal set to expire at the end of the 2026 season.
DeChambeau holds all of the power with LIV, especially after Brooks Koepka’s recent exit from the Saudi-backed league.
If the PGA Tour open the door to Koepka without too many consequences, DeChambeau will surely be tempted into following his fellow American out of LIV.
All that we know for sure right now is that the two-time major champion WILL be playing on LIV Golf in 2026.
Bryson DeChambeau has made a mistake ahead of the 2026 LIV Golf season
After just one win to his name in 2025, DeChambeau will have been working harder than anyone on improving his game during the off-season.
There aren’t many players in the professional game who work harder on perfecting their craft than DeChambeau does.
However, is there a chance that the 32-year-old from Dallas has been focusing on the wrong thing?
DeChambeau is said to be chasing a 200 mph ‘tournament’ ball speed ahead of the new LIV Golf season.
And that could be a real problem for him in 2026, if he’s not careful.
There is a direct correlation between more speed and less control and that has been proven by the stats.
Just look at DeChambeau as an example of that. He drove the ball beautifully well at Augusta National in 2025 but his iron play lacked consistency.
His distance control was really poor, especially during the final round, and that proved really costly to him in the end.
Considering the fact that his poor iron play cost him dearly at The Masters, why on earth would he focus on getting his ‘cruising’ ball speed up to 200 mph ahead of the 2026 season?
Surely that will only lead to even less control with his irons.
Bryson DeChambeau should study ball speeds of the best iron players in the world
Look at the best iron players in the world – Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood.
None of those players average over 180 mph ball speed off the tee.
What should LIV Golf change for you to give them full world ranking points?
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As mentioned earlier, those who have better spin control with their irons are usually in the 170-178mph ball speed range.
As much as it would hurt DeChambeau’s ego, the smart play would have been to dial back his ball speed to around 180 mph maximum.
Reigning it back to around 177/178 mph would actually be ideal – that seems to be the sweet spot.
Scheffler averaged a ball speed of 177 mph in 2025, while Fleetwood and Hovland were around the 173/174 mph mark, with Morikawa averaging 171 mph off the tee.
DeChambeau trying to increase his ball speed just seems to be a really bizarre move. He is obviously a real entertainer and he loves putting smiles on the faces of his fans.
However, is that more important to him than building a major-winning legacy in the game? That’s something that only he will know, of course.
If his wait for a third major continues to rumble on for a while, though, perhaps he’ll start making changes to his game that will actually be conducive to more success in the biggest tournaments.
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