Bryson DeChambeau kept a low profile coming into this week’s 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. He still got some press, though, thanks to six-time major winner Nick Faldo.
Negative press, that is. Faldo harshly criticized DeChambeau during a podcast interview, specifically over Bryson’s lack of strategy when playing links golf.
On Thursday on a baked-out Birkdale, DeChambeau put on a show to charge into contention early. After his round, the two-time U.S. Open champ subtly returned fire at Faldo, using the former TV analyst’s words against him.
Bryson DeChambeau makes Open charge after Nick Faldo criticism
Heading into this week’s Open, DeChambeau had played three majors in 2026… and missed three cuts. When Faldo was asked about Bryson’s major struggles on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast this week, he called it a “Rough Slam.”
When the topic of DeChambeau’s chances at the Open came up, Faldo didn’t hold back with his criticism.
“He has — I’d say it to his face — he has zero clue of strategy,” Faldo told host Jamie Weir. “I mean, he said it last year and then I think on TV, ‘I’m going to go out and attack the links.’ Well, I’ve never attacked a links. You thread it, don’t you? You feed it down the fairway, it’s really important.”
He didn’t stop there.
“You don’t think, ‘I’ll just bomb it down there, can’t see where I’m going, it’s 20 yards wide.’ Oh yeah, good luck. You’ve got to think, ‘How do I get it on the short grass?’ It’s so important,” Faldo continued. “He’ll stand up and just keep bombing away… but you can be completely blocked out on a links.”
The fact that DeChambeau finished T10 at last year’s Open at Royal Portrush made Faldo’s comments curious at the time. DeChambeau’s performance on Thursday made them look even worse.
Teeing off in the morning alongside Scottie Scheffler and Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson opened with back-to-back birdies. He kept it together all day long, making three more birdies against two bogeys to finish with a 67.
The hot start left DeChambeau at three under and two shots off the early lead.
DeChambeau jabs Faldo: ‘I feel like my strategy was nice today’
DeChambeau skipped a traditional press conference after his round, and instead agreed to a quick R&A interview with no other reporters present.
“It was a hard-fought battle out there. The wind was switching quite a bit. It was fun seeing a lot of the fans going at us, and they were rooting for all of us. It was fun just seeing the ups and downs of the group, but we all played pretty well. It was a lot of fun,” he began. “There’s just some driving holes out there I’ve got to work on. Other than that, I played really well. Made some good putts. I three-putted once, but that’s life.”
Then, when the interviewer asked about course lessons learned from the first round, DeChambeau dropped some shade at Faldo’s criticism of his lack of “strategy.”
“I think you’ve got to be a lot more strategic out on the golf course. I feel like I did a really good job today of being incredibly strategic and focused super hard on placing it in the right places,” DeChambeau said in reference to Faldo’s comments.
He added one more “strategy” for good measure.
“Besides 18, I placed the ball in some good areas. But I just need to hit more fairways. Other than that, I feel like my strategy was nice today.”
Aside from his light Faldo ribbing, Bryson also offered up some interesting comments about playing alongside Scheffler, a rare occurrence with DeChambeau playing on LIV Golf.
“It was fun playing with Scottie, seeing how good he strikes the ball. That’s something — I’ve wanted to play with him for a while now. Seeing how he struck the ball today was beautiful,” DeChambeau said of Scheffler. “Makes me think, oh, man, I’ve got to work on my driving and 3-wood a little bit better because I hit it farther than him, but it sometimes doesn’t go straight.”
He said playing with the World No. 1 was a “good gauge” for his own game.
“It tells me kind of where my game’s at. Also shows me where he’s at. It’s good to see it in person,” DeChambeau said. “You always see it on TV, but it’s just a little different sometimes when you’re right there.”
As for the rest of the week, DeChambeau said he hopes he can keep the good times rolling all the way to Sunday.
“I’m having a lot of fun. If I can keep it going and give the crowd something to cheer for on Sunday, that’s all I can ask for.”
