GAINESVILLE, Va. — As much as Bryson DeChambeau loves to practice and compete, the reigning U.S. Open champion also appreciates how the LIV Golf League’s limited schedule gives him time to pursue other interests.
DeChambeau arrived at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club for LIV Golf’s Virginia tournament after a characteristically busy few days that included a round with U.S. President Donald Trump and some short-game practice on the White House South Lawn.
Now the big-hitting YouTube star turns his attention to the 54-hole, no-cut LIV tournament that starts Friday at RTJ near Washington, D.C. He said the thick rough and fast greens at the course would help prepare him for Oakmont, the Pittsburgh-area country club where he will try next week to win his third U.S. Open after triumphs last year on the famed No. 2 course at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina and in 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.
“I think LIV afforded me the opportunity to spend more time thinking, strategizing, getting my body healthy, ready for majors in a pretty unique way,” DeChambeau said Wednesday. “For me, it was a great thing. I thought there was an opportunity to do other things in life, and look, do I want to win every single tournament I show up to? 100%.”
The stop at RTJ is the eighth of 14 tournaments this year for the globetrotting league backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Although PGA Tour players have more freedom to set their own schedules, they typically play more often. For that circuit’s Scottie Scheffler, who has been No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for more than two years, the U.S. Open will be the fourth of five events in a seven-week stretch.