Bryson DeChambeau’s strategy of using 3D clubs he built himself is off to a disastrous start at the 2026 Masters.
After teeing off the first round on Thursday, DeChambeau already made undesirable history.
“Bryson DeChambeau made a 7 on the 11th hole, his 7th score of 7 or higher at the Masters,” The Athletic golf reporter Justin Ray relayed. “It’s the most of any player since he made his debut in 2016.”
From an optics standpoint, the worst of it came on the sixth hole when DeChambeau shanked an errant tee shot and hit a patron.
ESPN posted a video showing DeChambeau bringing his hand to his mouth in horror after watching his shot sail into the gallery. DeChambeau offered the man a golf ball as an apology.
At the 11th hole, DeChambeau had to take three shots out of the bunker in a struggle to card a triple bogey.
While Scottie Scheffler has consistently been the odds-on favorite to win the 2026 Masters, DeChambeau was a popular pick to win his first green jacket.
“Obviously, I’m playing well, and I feel like my game is in the best place of its career, outside of maybe [LIV Golf] Greenbrier when I shot 58,” DeChambeau said when meeting with the press earlier this week. “Outside of that, I’m excited to get the week going and see where I can put myself.”
DeChambeau added, “There’s this nature that I have about myself where innovation is a habit of mine, and I really find and take pride in that ability to learn, even through failure — even through making a bad decision or a good decision — what I can get from that.
DeChambeau arrived at Augusta National having won LIV Golf Singapore and LIV Golf South Africa in March.
As of this writing, DeChambeau is at +3 through 15 holes. See the live leaderboard here.