Bryson DeChambeau lost his cool in Mexico City as the LIV Golf star unleashed an angry outburst on the state of the course at Club de Golf Chapultepec. Playing in LIV’s sixth event of the season, the 32-year-old raged after he sent his ball into an area of rough that had little in the way of grass.
But when he sent his ball into the rough and discovered his lie was caught between exposed mud and a tuft of grass after a wayward shot from the bunker, DeChambeau vocalised his frustrations and was soon calling for an official.
“You got destroyed grass,” the ill-tempered two-time US Open champion moaned to spectators in footage caught by Perisgolf. “Oh, this is rough?” he added.
“Definitely good to see,” he then said with an ironic thumbs up as his demeanour dropped in sarcasm.
DeChambeau requested a second ruling ,opinion and repeatedly gestured towards the patchy grass below his. “Guys, this is what we’re playing with apparently,” he could be heard complaining off camera before being filmed making animated points to his caddie.
“You’ve got to have a rule here,” he told an official after they arrived. “It’s unbelievable, absolutely out of the question.”
DeChambeau’s moaning did not lead to any reprieve, however. He was told to play the ball as it lay and eventually knocked it within six before converting his putt.
The American could yet have more reason to complain if LIV Golf brings its exploits to a close. Tour chiefs were called to an emergency meeting in New York earlier in the week, months after LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said the sport would not be profitable for another five to 10 years.
Amid all of the speculation, Scott told TNT Sports in Mexico: “The reality is that you’re funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going. But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of mankind.”
The CEO had also looked to reassure LIV staff. In a leaked email, O’Neil said: “I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.”
“The noise you hear is simply the sound of a movement that is working. Embrace it. We are pioneers,” he added.
“The life of a start-up movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. While the road isn’t always smooth, the destination is worth every mile. Let’s go out and show the world why LIV Golf is the future of the game.”