On Wednesday at the Masters Par 3 Contest, Bryson DeChambeau glowed on TV screens across the country. He was all smiles, as he often is, yucking it up with movie star Kevin Hart, who caddied for the two-time major champion in the laidback event.
But just one day later, viewers were presented with a much different version of Bryson DeChambeau.
Following a nightmare start in the opening round of the 2026 Masters on Thursday, a fuming-under-the-surface DeChambeau was terse with reporters, partly blamed the wind for his struggles, praised the 3D-printed iron he made for himself and, finally, offered up a one wordless response that is sure to become a golf meme for years to come.
Frustrated DeChambeau reacts to struggles in Masters opening round
Coming into this week’s Masters, DeChambeau was riding high. He’d just won back-to-back LIV events, earning him elevated placement in the pre-tournament Masters odds. So high, in fact, that oddsmakers deemed Bryson to have a better chance of winning the green jacket than defending champion Rory McIlroy.
But in a mirror of last year’s final round, Thursday’s opening day of the 2026 Masters saw McIlroy rise to the top of the leaderboard, and DeChambeau fall far behind, risking irrelevance on the weekend.
By day’s end, McIlroy had shot 67 to tie for the early lead. DeChambeau had shot 76 and will have to fight to make the cut on Friday.
It’s safe to say that after the round, DeChambeau was not amused with his results.
While he often is positive, thoughtful and long-winded in media interviews, DeChambeau was none of the above on Friday evening. Perhaps understandably so, given what had unfolded at Augusta National on Thursday projected against expectations.
The first question was about Bryson’s biggest disaster of the day. At the treacherous par-4 11th, he twice failed to escape the greenside bunker, eventually walking away with a triple-bogey 7.
What happened on 11?
“Bunker was softer than I anticipated,” DeChambeau replied curtly.
How cognizant were you of not going left given what happened last year in the final round?… when DeChambeau hit his approach on 11 into the greenside pond, resulting in a devastating double bogey.
“The ball flew 12 yards farther than I wanted it to. I had a good shot.”
How is the 5-iron treating you?… the 5-iron that DeChambeau 3D-printed himself, which he enthusiastically shared in his pre-Masters press conference, along with plans to eventually build an entire set of self-made irons.
“Good. It was great on 7. Hit a good second shot. Wind didn’t hit it off the left. Irons are still something I have to work on.”
Are you satisfied with the 5?
“Yeah, yeah. I mean, I only hit it once today, so…” DeChambeau said.
When Bryson was then asked how long it would take for him to make one of his homemade irons, he appeared to grow increasingly impatient and eager to move on.
Still, he reeled off an explanation in monotone bullet points.
“Prints in eight hours. Machines, they’re three or four hours,” DeChambeau began. “Then you have to cut grooves in it and do a bunch of other stuff. So you can have something within a day and a half.”
But it was DeChambeau’s response to the next question that betrayed his true state-of-mind following a grueling and unsuccessful hike up and down Augusta National’s pristine hills.
When asked if he would consider printing and building a new iron for the weekend rounds, a flabbergasted DeChambeau responded with facial expression that became an instant meme, then said, “No. It has to be USGA-conforming. There’s a whole process you have to go through.”
DeChambeau did provide a small window into his gameplan for tomorrow considering his lowly leaderboard position, saying he had to “hit my irons better,” while also lamenting the tricky winds at Augusta.
“Just going to give what the golf course gives me. I have to try to hit my irons better. I drove it left numerous occasions,” he said. “Did a great job on 18. Wind didn’t hurt it like we thought, and that’s this game. That’s the golf course.
He continued: “You know, everybody has an ability for weird things to happen, and today I just did not have my irons under control, which is weird. It’s been good coming into it, so…”
When one reporter then tried to return to the 5-iron line of questioning, DeChambeau had officially had enough.
“That’s a longer conversation. It’s not for here,” he replied.
And with that, the scrum was over, and DeChambeau was left trying to figure out how to figure out this bedeviling golf course on Friday.
He tees off for Round 2 at 1:20 p.m. ET.
