Unleashed alongside Thomas, USA have faith in the x-factor man DeChambeau 

Bryson DeChambeau signing autographs for fans at the end of Wednesday’s Ryder Cup practice round at Bethpage Black, New York. Pic: Cian O’Regan

The Americans have been teasing their not-so-secret weapon all week.

“Gladiator golfer” is what Xander Schauffele calls his teammate who tried to drive the dogleg first-hole green in Tuesday’s practice round and saluted the howling crowds with his best Russell Crowe “are you not entertained?” impression.

The “X-factor” said captain Keegan Bradley of the most popular YouTube golfer in the world.

“I’m excited to kind of unleash him this week,” said world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

That unleashing will take place in Friday’s opening foursomes session, where Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas will be sent out first against Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton in the most volatile matchup of the week.

The DeChambeau who finally took the stage for his pre-Ryder Cup interview on Thursday was most decidedly on a leash.

Nobody wants to see DeChambeau on his best behaviour, but the most dynamic American figure on the team was definitely coached – as was his European rival Rory McIlroy – to not say anything inflammatory on the eve of the 45th Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

Whether DeChambeau was sent out in the lead-off foursomes match to stoke the partisan crowds or as a cheerleader waiting to be deployed in the afternoon four-balls didn’t seem to matter to him. Whatever helps the team is his mantra.

“It’s about what can we do to give ourselves the best chance to win as a team,” he said. “So if I’m going out tomorrow, great, in the morning. If not, totally understand. I’m here to support no matter what.

“I think anybody that I’m paired with, I’d be excited to play with. I know the team has been awesome. I’ve enjoyed every second of being in the team room. The guys have been incredible. The support that they have given me and vice versa has been emotional for me.” 

DeChambeau, like McIlroy, refrained from pouring more fuel on their “chirping” fire on Thursday as they both were respectful of their rivals.

“I think rivalries are good for the game of golf, and albeit I have the ultimate respect for Rory as a player,” DeChambeau said. “It’s going to be fun to go up against him this week, whether it’s against him directly or through other players. I think it going to be a fun challenge this week.

“Would I love to go up against him? Yeah. It would be a lot of fun. Is it going to happen? It’s not likely. I mean, maybe once. You never know. … But look, he’s a fierce competitor, a great competitor, but one that I would love the opportunity to play against this week.” 

He was also relatively magnanimous regarding his chief antagonist’s – Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee – latest comments on air about DeChambeau padding his 2.43 million following on YouTube with bots. 

DeChambeau has signed many hundreds of autographs for fans clamouring to be near him all week at Bethpage, which created yet another viral meme: “Brandel will call those fans bots.” 

"Did Brandel say something yesterday? I don't know what it was," he quipped to laughter from his fans.

“I think any time that people can throw stuff at me like that, I enjoy it,” DeChambeau said of Chamblee’s consistent barbs which included dubbing him a “captain’s nightmare".

“I appreciate it. I think it’s good for ultimately the game of golf because it starts to spur conversation on. Ultimately, on YouTube, you have to be verified to be able to subscribe and whatnot. So I don’t think it’s really that honest or true. But it is what it is. I mean, any time you can say something like that and create more buzz for the game of golf, it’s great.” 

DeChambeau admitted that “it sucked” to not make the U.S. team that went to Rome in 2023 after leaving for LIV Golf. It inspired him to play extra hard in the only points qualifying events he could – the majors – to make it on merit and not leave it up to captain Bradley to pick him. 

It took consistently impressive efforts in majors – including his 2024 U.S. Open win over McIlroy at Pinehurst – to get him here.

“Seeing the guys lose really put a fire in my stomach and wanted to make the team this time around,” he said. “Now we’re here, and we’re a day away from starting probably, if not the most exciting golf event in golf.” 

DeChambeau got his first taste of Ryder Cup success at Whistling Straits alongside rookie Scottie Scheffler, going 1-0-1 in two four-ball partnerships together. He added a singles victory over Sergio Garcia in a decisive 19-9 U.S. victory.

That was a far cry from his Ryder Cup debut in France, when he went 0-3 with lopsided foursomes defeats partnering with Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods that never made it to the 15th tee and losing his singles bout to Alex Noren.

But he’s a different player now, more confident and self-assured in his own skin to take on the mantel of being a vocal leader inside the teammate and more noticeably out on the course in front of crowds that can’t get enough on him.

“Four years ago, I wouldn’t have been as open or ready, I guess you could say, for this moment,” he said. “You’ll never be fully ready for what’s to come tomorrow or the next few days. But the experience certainly does help. And hopefully I can use that to the best of my ability and hit some great shots when it matters most.

“I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to hopefully get them riled up and, you know, excited for what’s to come.” 

Despite the narrative Chamblee keeps pushing, DeChambeau has been welcomed with open arms by his fellow Americans as the only LIV representative in the U.S. team room.

“This is a tough thing for him, to come into guys that he doesn’t see every day, full of PGA Tour players, but he’s done an exceptional job of making the extra effort, flying to Napa, flying to Atlanta, doing things that are really difficult with the schedule that he has,” said Bradley. “He's made every effort possible and been incredible in the team room.” His teammates believe in what he brings to the table.

“He brings a lot of energy, the people love him, and I think he loves the opportunity to be able to represent his country,” said Scheffler, who had no qualms partnering with DeChambeau in 2021.

“I feel like Bryson could be like the difference for us in a strange way from the standpoint of feeding into these fans, the style of golf he plays,” said Schauffele.

“I’m excited to sort of see what he can do, and hopefully get a lot of points up on the board because his points might hit harder than maybe my points, for example, just because of how he might celebrate and get these fans into this tournament quickly.” Said Bradley: “We have a lot of calm, mellow guys, so we need the energy from Bryson.” 

Friday, he gets unleashed.