Allow me to take Bryson DeChambeau’s side for just a moment.
The fans who get their jollies by calling him ‘Brooksy’ on the golf course are clowns.
They think they’re being funny, just like their socially challenged cousin, “mashed potatoes” guy.
They’re not.
At best, they’re annoying. They’re the ones who talk too loud after one beer and think they’re clever because they’ve latched onto a tournament version of a meme. They’re not smart enough to know how loutish they are.
It needs to end but it probably won’t.
Even if Brooks Koepka took to social media to say it’s time to tone it down (he’s at least a little complicit in this) it probably wouldn’t matter.
The noisy few would probably be quietly escorted off the premises at Augusta National but that’s the only place. Just wait until DeChambeau shows up at Liberty National next week and the New York fans get their turn with him.
DeChambeau can take care of himself, even if he has developed a nagging insistence on saying something that undermines his smarter-than-the-average-bear persona. It’s just that the “Brooksy” stuff is like social media trolling – as appealing as week-old sushi.
This pot was stirred again last weekend at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational where DeChambeau had a difficult week, particularly on Sunday afternoon where he was razzed while shooting a fat 41 on the closing nine with a chance to win.
Harris English, ever the gentleman even after kicking away the Memphis trophy that would have potentially locked down a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, spoke up for DeChambeau after they finished.
It’s notable because DeChambeau, apparently chapped at the print media for reporting what he said about why he hadn’t been vaccinated for COVID, declined to speak with the print media as the week wore on.
DeChambeau comes at most things in unorthodox ways. It’s part of who he is and it’s what has made him the player he is. He does, however, come off as arrogant too often.
English also took the high road because his closing 40, which included two watery double bogeys, was at least partially influenced by slow-play warnings given to him and DeChambeau, whose adventures were largely responsible for forcing the twosome to speed up with the tournament on the line.
“It’s not real fair for them to call him ‘Brooksy’ a lot,” English said. “It kind of sucks and obviously he hears it and it affects him a little bit and he doesn’t like it and I think that causes them to do it more.
“It just sucks that that’s out here right now, that they’re trying to irk people like that. It’s just unfortunate.”
English is right.
Maybe it’s me but I’ve never understood the appeal of yelling at athletes or umpires. Some people go to games for exactly that reason, whether they admit it to themselves or not. I’ve sat courtside at enough basketball games to know it’s true (though I will refrain from identifying the most obnoxious fan bases).
Golf isn’t exempt from the fans being part of the action but there is – or should be – a line. Like DeChambeau, Sergio García brought much of the razzing he got at Bethpage Black years ago upon himself. Colin Montgomerie was no stranger to the noise, either.
Still, the acid detracts from the event.
DeChambeau has made life difficult for himself this summer and Sunday in Memphis was unsettling. He looked badly out of sorts and even if he can convince himself there are reasons outside his control for shots that don’t come off exactly as planned, his agitation was evident.
Given his comments after the U.S. Open about how much luck factors into winning, a cynic might suggest DeChambeau was just terribly unlucky at Memphis. Even he knows better than that.
Twice in two months, DeChambeau has had final-nine meltdowns when he was in position to win. Did the first play a role in the second?
Golf isn’t a game of coincidences. DeChambeau has improved his pace of play – next week will be the two-year anniversary of his “Let’s talk about slow play” press conference at Liberty National – but he can still be deliberate. Forced to play at a hurried pace Sunday, both he and English cracked.
A PGA Tour player this week raised the subject of DeChambeau with me and, after saying that he likes him personally, the pro shook his head about how DeChambeau has handled some things recently. The public wants authenticity from the players but that can backfire when the player keeps saying things that land the wrong way.
DeChambeau comes at most things in unorthodox ways. It’s part of who he is and it’s what has made him the player he is. He does, however, come off as arrogant too often.
It will be too bad if his talent is clouded by the target that has been painted on him, some of it with his own brush. But that’s the way it’s going.
It’s not too late for the pendulum to swing back in his favor and maybe it will.
Would that quiet the noisemakers in the galleries? Probably not. They’re too busy thinking they’re part of the show.