Bryson DeChambeau withdraws from 2022 Players Championship after missing Arnold Palmer Invitational
Kraken is not ready yet. Bryson DeChambeau withdrew from The Players Championship on Sunday night, marking the second week in a row he has been forced to withdraw from a major event. DeChambeau also missed last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where he was the defending champion.
Just last week, DeChambeau said he was 90% ready and trying to be completely fit to compete at TPC Sawgrass this week.
“I’ve been working hard on my game and trying to recover” DeChambeau said in the video. “God, tough decision right now. I have a lot of work to do to get things back to normal this week. I just feel the time is too short for me to be 100% back, playing. I’m at 100%. Right now, I’m 90% like. I just don’t want to go out there and hurt myself more and not be 100% ready for the rest of the season. It’s a tough decision I have to make right now, but unfortunately I won’t be playing this week.”
DeChambeau hasn’t released a video this time around, but he seems optimistic about… something.
“Almost ready. Ready for something big” DeChambeau told Golfweek. “Many plans at work.”
DeChambeau has been closely linked to the Super Golf League, a Saudi-backed rival tournament for the PGA Tour that appears to have fallen a few weeks ago. Phil Mickelson’s provocative comment About the tournament, its funding and how it started have been revealed. I don’t think this is what DeChambeau is implying, though I also don’t believe SGL is completely dead. DeChambeau released a statement That doesn’t exactly distance him from SGL, and while that still applies to him in bot lane, I don’t think it is right now.
Instead, DeChambeau’s focus will be on the 2022 Masters, which kicks off in 31 days. His refurbished game will be demolished at Augusta National, and he won’t want to miss the first major tournament of the year, even if he misses the two venues he’s had huge success with in the Bay Area. Hill and TPC Sawgrass.
Interestingly, despite claiming it was par 67 at one point in his career, DeChambeau never came close to conquering Augusta National. Of the five trips there, his best was a T21 in 2016 when he was still an amateur. Last year, he confessed that this course holds some power that may exceed his great strength.
“I don’t think you can find this place,” he said. “There’s a lot going on around here,”
Hopefully he will find his injury for entertainment value as DeChambeau at least shows up at tournaments and tees off off the charts. That has been true throughout his entire career, and especially true this time last year when he beat Bay Hill and nearly won The Players. Whether you catch him winning or hope he misses a chance, it’s almost undeniable that golf is a lot more enjoyable when he’s in the spotlight.
Hayden Buckley will replace DeChambeau in The Players Championship.
