PIF SAUDI INTERNATIONAL POWERED BY SOFTBANK INVESTMENT ADVISERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

January 13, 2022

Bryson DeChambeau

Royal Greens Golf and Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Thanks again for joining us. We really appreciate your time. Just to make this nice and easy, I'll ask a couple questions at the start, and we'll ask anyone who wants to ask Bryson a question to put their hands up in the chart.

Bryson, great to have you here. I think it's your second trip out to Saudi Arabia.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It's the third.

THE MODERATOR: Third time, okay. I think you were 18th last year. Do you have fond memories of playing in Saudi, and are you looking forward to returning?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, absolutely. I think that there's a lot of amazing places. One of the most interesting things about that golf course for me is I think it fits a bomber pretty well. I'm comfortable coming back there. Tony played well last year, and DJ has obviously won, and obviously Graeme did pretty well there one year too.

I feel like for whatever reason, it just suits my eye. If I get hot and rolling, which I haven't any of the times I've been there, hopefully I can claim victory.

THE MODERATOR: On that subject of you bombing it at Royal Greens, I actually remember, I think it was last year, you were hitting the ball actually out and beyond the driving range, putting it out on the 12th, something obviously everyone loves about your game. Can we be expecting you to hit it even further this year?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, this year will be even further. Once I get to some lower lofted heads that weren't conforming -- they just weren't approved by the USGA yet. It's coming here this week and next week. You'll be seeing a lot longer drives.

Last week I couldn't really do that just because it wasn't on the conforming list yet. It's just shipping and everything from China and whatnot. Struggled to get stuff in.

We're supposed to have something earlier, but all the shipping delays caused it to be moved back and didn't really have what I wanted to play with. Still went out and tried to bomb it. Hit it as far, hit a couple wayward drives, but hopefully it will be corrected when I come to Royal Greens.

THE MODERATOR: We'll need to get some hard hats out on the course then.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I'll make sure not to hit it in a place that's compromising. We'll figure it out.

THE MODERATOR: Just on Royal Greens as well, how would you rate the setup out there and the course? You said it's one you enjoyed playing.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: For sure. The golf course is still pretty new. I think the greens over the course of time have slowly gotten faster, which is awesome. The course layout and setup is a great test of championship golf. If they get that rough up, it can be pretty diabolical. You've got firm greens out there. It's definitely a championship style golf course, one that I like playing and one that I know a lot of top players are playing as well. So I want to compete with the best players in the world.

Q. Bryson, a couple quick ones. The last two times you've played competitively, you've worn a cap. What's up with the cap?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I wore the normal hat -- or I wore the driver cap back in Hero. So last week was just something a little different. I feel like I'm turning a bit of a page in my life, in my chapter and my book.

As I've always said, I'm always evolving and changing and growing and adapting. It's just another one of those things. I don't know if it will be a thing to stay or it pops up randomly, sometimes randomly with the normal driver cap. It's going to be one that is just going to keep you guys on edge, I guess. It just depends on what I feel like and what I'm comfortable with that week.

Q. I just want to make sure you're talking about the hat, right?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah.

Q. The other one is which wrist, or was it both wrists, and how are they feeling?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: They're good. I went and saw Greg yesterday. I went up to Denver. It was the left wrist. It's been bothering me for about three or four weeks now, all of this speed training and whatnot, definitely taking a toll on the actual muscular structure.

Initially, when I said my hands were killing me, it was more of like the skin back in late last year. Then now it's just gotten to a point where I'm putting so much speed and force into the wrist that we haven't been taking care of the wrist, Greg and I.

I know I talk a lot about that on my YouTube channel and whatnot. We've got another one coming out about how to fix my wrist. We just did a video on that. So it will be coming out this next week. This guy is a magic man. So I'm very, very blessed to have somebody on my team like that who can help put me in a direction like that, a positive direction like that. Yeah, I'm very lucky to have someone.

I was like, you know what, I'm not going to push it this week. I'd rather go maybe play Farmers and then Saudi and get a good prep for Saudi as well. But Farmers for sure. I need to hit my minimum. I haven't played many tournaments this year. So I'm going to do that.

I feel bad for Sony. It's just one of those things I didn't want to push it and not have Greg there and potentially do something worse. The one thing you don't want to do is push your body when it's saying no, don't go. You don't want to do that in recovery. Happy to have it all taken care of.

Q. Last week was the first week without the green reading material. I'm just curious, did you find that challenging? Did it specifically change, I guess, your routine when you're putting? If so, how?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, it took a 13-year process that I've worked with numerous people with. Worked with Putt View on it as well. I did AimPoint back in the day. Worked through the whole process. They took a process that I've done for 13 years and numerous other people have done for a long time and nixed it. It is what it is. The TOUR decided that, the PAC decided it, the players decided it, and I respect it.

It's one of those things I'm going to have to learn how to deal with and move on and figure out a way to make more putts without the system that I built, the intellectual property that I have. It's one of those things that I'm always pivoting and trying to figure out the best way to move about it.

It is what it is. I can't say much more about it other than it's a bit disappointing because I think there's a lot more traction around the hole now and people are standing around the hole. Whether that has an effect, I don't know.

Look, you got the lowest scores ever last week, so there's obviously people that do it really well without it, and I've got to adapt.

Q. Secondly, what's the cat's name?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Chester. Whenever you see "do it for Chester," it's for my cat (laughing).

Q. Bryson, a couple things. One, I understand that you may be involved in the Long Drive Association, that you may be taking some kind of more active interest than you were before. Is that correct?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Correct, yes. I am definitely a partial owner in PLDA.

Q. You're involved in a lot of different things from a business standpoint. How do you make those decisions, A, if you want to do it, B, how much you want to be involved, and C, how much you want to actually be financially involved?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: So I would say from the first question, it's about growing the game of golf. That's all I want to do. My life, my passion is to play the best golf I can, number one. Number two, I want to grow the game to a level that's never been seen before. I want to continue to grow it like Tiger did.

I probably won't have anywhere near the same influence as Tiger, but I want to continue to keep providing golfers and us entertainers out there with a better platform, a better stage to provide everyone in the world, all 7 billion, maybe a little bit more now, maybe almost close to 8 billion, people an opportunity to see this great game.

It's afforded me so many pleasurable and amazing things that I feel it's my duty to give back in every way possible. One of them is the long drive. I have a passion for it, and I feel it completely aligns with what I want to accomplish in the game of golf. I feel there's a way to showcase athletes in a light that's never been seen before.

People are going to say it's a bit against the grain. That's kind what I've always been unfortunately. But fortunately, it's something I'm very passionate about and I love, and I want it to continue to grow.

How do I make the decision to be financially involved or how do I have as much input, I have a great team around me that helps figure out things, huge questions in the company or whatnot, whenever I can't be there. But there are times I fit around and I -- sometimes it's late at night, sometimes it's early in the morning that I have to work through certain problems to figure stuff out, but prioritizing time is the most important thing. You've got to schedule it out really well and super far in advance as well.

That's how I've been able to do it. Obviously, practicing for a long time and going out and doing business after, it's not easy. It's like I'm doing two jobs. Does it take away from the game of golf? For me, no. It only enhances me to help me focus, when I'm on the practice range, when I'm on the golf course, to completely focus on the task at hand.

So it kind of sectionalizes my life and prioritizes my life in that manner as well.

How to be financially involved, it's relative to the capital I have and what I want to put in for what I think it's worth in getting out and vice versa.

Q. I have a question regarding the fact that Netflix has just officialized this documentary to be published, I would say, in the next few months regarding the PGA TOUR and so on. I would like to have your views on that kind of documentary and regarding the fact that it can help the broader audience to know more about golf and professional golf. I was quite surprised, that's the second part of my question, not to see your name so far in the lineup. Is there a specific reason for that?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: No. I think it could potentially grow the game of golf in that regard. I feel like people in the United States -- there's a lot of factors going on in that. One, there wasn't a deal that was struck that was very well for my side of it. I love Netflix. I watch it. I have a great time with it. But just for me it wasn't right at the present moment.

I feel like people are seeing me on YouTube, Instagram, and they're getting a pretty dang good look inside my life. And to have more people come in and go even farther, which is almost impossible for what I'm giving out is just overall too invasive for me. I didn't really want any more than that because I do have to have a life outside of it.

I do feel like I'm presenting this YouTube audience and continuing to grow and continuing to grow with Registry, my new content creation channel. Martin and Hogan, Hudson, these guys are all coming together to help grow the game of golf in that regard.

There's a lot of great people on there. If I was to go on there, yeah, it would be cool to see, but I feel like there's a lot more interesting stories. You've got Harry Higgs. You've got numerous others. I don't want to take the light away from them for their potential to grow themselves in a manner that's unique to them, where they're already pretty far behind. They have the opportunity to grow a lot more than I do in that regard.

Q. Just a quick one on Saudi. A very good lineup assembled. How important is it for you to hit the ground running? And beyond that, how much is the Masters in your mind at the moment? I know a couple of years ago you made that sort of very honest prediction about Augusta being a par-67. Is that still the way you plan on attacking it going through your big shots off the tee?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I'm definitely going to try to hit it as far as possible. Is it -- I mean, you can put the par to whatever you want it to be. What I was saying was just based off of distances I was having in and relative length. People are going to take that the wrong way, and I never meant to be that way. It was always just it's kind of the way I'm thinking about the golf course as a strategy.

It didn't really pan out. I played terrible, and it is what it is, right? At the end of the day, I look at it as Augusta is in my sights, and I want to win. There's nothing more I want to do to win.

Playing in Saudi, getting a good start off to the year, and I didn't do so hot in Kapalua, trying to get that momentum up to where I know I can be is something that's key for me. Having the right equipment and going into playing consistent golf so I can get back on a schedule and feel comfortable is huge for me.

So definitely have my sights on Augusta and can't wait to see what I can do with this new length and new driver, less spin rate, more control. Hopefully, that's a huge asset for me when I play. Because it's funny, like at Kapalua, my 50 yards to 150 yards, I was No. 1 in strokes gained that week. What the heck? I never practiced it, and I was No. 1.

It's kind of weird how the game of golf works. It throws stuff at you that you'd never expect, and that's what's so beautiful about it.

Q. I wanted to ask you a question concerning the Saudi and the human rights and politics that are heavily discussed around the tournament. "The Washington Post" wrote last week that players choosing to play the tournament are choosing to take blood money, how they called it. What's your stance on that? Are the politics around the tournament a topic for you?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: So not a politician, first off. There are -- I'm a golfer, first and foremost, and I want to play where the best golfers in the world are going to play. And that is the end of the story for me.

Q. You've had some great success over the last two, three years. What have you learned in terms of expectations? Are there times you have to try to keep the lid on expectations a little bit more?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: You're asking about my expectations relative to new higher expectations? I'm sorry. I didn't --

Q. Just in general, when you go into each season, you've always been a confident lad and rightly so. But have you learned that maybe sometime the expectations need to be reined in a little bit?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, definitely reined in. I think there are times when you have such high expectation levels and you put so much pressure on yourself. 2020 Masters, that Thanksgiving Masters, I had so much pressure on me, and it was definitely a different feeling that everyone was watching me and seeing how I'm going to play the golf course and whatnot.

That definitely threw me for a loop. I'm okay with it. I'm learning. I'm still learning. Now that time has gone on and people realize that distance isn't everything but it's a huge factor and it's fun to watch. I think it's great that people are settling into going, okay, he did this. It's cool. But now what are the expectation levels, and what's he going to do now?

For me, I'm going to continue to grow my game in the best way I possibly can, being a better putter, chipper, wedger, long driver, everything. As time goes on, I have to rein in those expectations and just learn to be me. Don't try and be anybody else.

I feel like as time has gone on I've got people around me that have helped me understand who I am at a better level and continue to grow in the way that I want to grow. Obviously, I've had struggles in the past with different, numerous things that have gone on. We can talk about that another time. But I'm continuing to learn and grow and respond in ways that help the game of golf.

That's honestly all I want. I don't want to be a super controversial figure. I just want to be someone that people can look up to and aspire to be like and just inspire them to work harder. That's really all I want. As time has gone on, the expectation levels have definitely changed from a look and performance standpoint.

Do I still want to win every week? Do I want to be the best player in the world? Absolutely. But I feel like as time is going on, I'm settling into a figure that I'm very, very comfortable with.

Q. Good answer. One more for you. I know you've got a lot of golf to play between now and the middle of July. The 150th Open in Scotland is all the excitement. Building up to that, how excited are you to be at St. Andrews and what you might be able to achieve at the Old Course?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: That's a great question. What's funny is I've never played St. Andrews, even when I had no length or not as much length to now. People are saying that I'm going to be able to drive a lot of greens. I'm sure that, depending on course conditions, it's going to be very difficult, or it could play relatively easy.

I think that's what so cool about, from what I've heard, St. Andrews, is you can play the golf course numerous, different ways. Hitting it far doesn't mean you're going to win. Hitting it close doesn't mean you're going to win. Making a lot of putts doesn't mean you're going to win. You have to have every aspect of your game to win a major championship.

I think that's what so beautiful about St. Andrews and the test that it's going to bring. From what I've heard, it's that you still, no matter what, have to have a full, well-rounded game. Especially when the conditions come out, and it gets wet, windy, soft. It's something that, no matter what, as much of an advantage as I do have, doesn't mean you're always going to win.

You can stack the cards in your favor, the house 70-30. 30 percent of the time it's not going to work out. For a good amount of time, it may be hitting in that 30 percent range each week. That's just the way it is. But I'm going to continue to stack the cards in my favor, and I'm looking forward to test myself at a super historic golf course.

Q. I think you told Mark last month that you actually considered walking away at some point in 2021. Just curious, how serious was that thought in your mind? What are you doing now to be in a better place to handle all the attention and pressure and stress of being a superstar.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, again, it goes back to that expectation level question that I had. It was changing my perspective on everything. Everything was so heightened with how far ahead -- oh, he's going to win every week. He's going to do this or that or whatever. Sometimes the letdowns were super difficult.

Then last year with everything going against me, whether it was media, the players or whatever it was, it became a lot on a human being. It's amazing what people can do when they tell you you're this all the time or that all the time when you know it's not true personally in the background.

You're doing a lot for charity. You're doing a lot for people around you, your team around you, and continue to provide the best entertainment for the world of golf, and it becomes difficult sometimes.

But as time goes on, you have to realize what are you doing this for? Why are you doing it? And how can you continue to improve in that quest in inspiring a next generation or inspiring someone to work harder?

I think that's really where it changed. Chris Pratt helped me out a bit through a really difficult time for me. He said play this fictional character for a while. I know you're not happy, you're in a very, very difficult spot, but just act like you're acting for a little bit. As time has gone on, it went away, and I became myself again. Because there was a point in time where it wouldn't have been fun being around me just because of how frustrated and sad and disappointed I was.

A lot of it was, people could say, brought on to me by myself. I understand that, but, again, the two things, three things I'm trying to accomplish is inspire and grow the game of golf and be a positive influence for the world. Those are the three things I really want to do.

Sometimes it's difficult. Sometimes I fail at it. Sometimes I get mad and frustrated like everyone else does, we're all human. The biggest part is I hope people realize we're all human. As much as I'm trying to influence the game of golf in a positive way, people are like, no, we don't like that or we don't want that change, that's not what is good for the game. Whatever their thoughts are, I just hope people have a different level of respect no matter what. They don't try and push anyone away.

It doesn't have to be me. Whenever you're having a conversation with somebody and somebody thinks a little differently, just try to have respect for that person because they've gone through years of experience of figuring something out or experiencing something a certain way that maybe you can't see yet and vice versa on both ends. It's got to be mutually beneficial and mutually respectful for us to grow the game.

I think that's where things got to, and it's just very disappointing for me to feel like I was just getting hammered all the time. I was just like, you know what, I don't really need this anymore. This once great game that was giving me so much just turned quite a bit on me. I feel like it's not worth it anymore. As time has gone on, that has changed. I have grown. I have learned the place that I'm in. Is it difficult and frustrating sometimes still? Absolutely, just like anything.

But my whole goal is I want to inspire and show off a little bit when I'm able to hit it really far and really straight one day and then chip it and putt it well. That's my favorite thing to do, and I want to continue to do that. That's what kept me moving in the right way.

Q. What was the low point for you?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: The low point? Well, it was probably right before FedEx St. Jude when I got COVID and I missed the Olympics. So I wasn't playing that well, and then I got COVID, and I'm like, man, this two week break, even though I feel terrible and not feeling great at all. I was quarantined at home, stayed inside, the whole thing. It was just a very, very sad moment in my life.

There are other moments that were kind of sad for me, but that was more like, man, I'm missing the Olympics. Something that I qualified and worked my whole life for. That really just hit me hard. So that was really the low moment. Then you go to the FedEx St. Jude and whatever happens happens there, right?

So there's just this whole time frame of frustration, and that's what leads someone to do something in a manner of, okay, you know what? If people are going to push me that way, I'm going to retract, and I'm going to be able to produce my own content on YouTube. And that's something I've done a great job of explaining a lot of my life behind the scenes and giving a very good story and good version of who I exactly am, the truthful version of who I am and who I want to continue to be.

I've always been up front and honest. Yeah, I get frustrated and I get mad. Yeah, we're all human. But at the end of the day, me giving myself on YouTube and whatnot is showing a side of me that not very many people get to see every day because that's who I actually am behind the scenes. If you know who I am behind the scenes, they're like, man, this is insanity what happened last year.

So that's why I started going on the YouTube channel and creating a content creation group. We're going to do some amazing stuff this year to showcase everybody's personality from Martin the long driver and Hogan, who's an incredible athlete in the gym. They're all great golfers too. Both of them are great golfers. And we're going to be adding another one soon.

Anyway, long story short, this is kind of why this has all happened. Sorry for the long answer, but that was really the low moment. I could go on for hours talking about that.

Q. I'm actually going to change my question based on that previous answer because I want you to keep talking. When it comes to distance, I think people thought of the ceilings being physical, like being the equipment or being your body or -- is the mental side of it being that sort of forerunner or that -- I don't know what you call it, that vanguard. Is that actually the bigger limit in some ways?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It can be. It definitely can be. It's not just one thing that sets it off. For me, it's always like a train that keeps tagging along cars, and each car is another stressor. Eventually, it just gets to where it's too many cars and it's going too fast. Things just -- things happen at the end of that. There's a stopping point where your brain can't handle that much.

So there was an accumulation of a lot of factors that ultimately led up to it. I've been working on equipment for a long time now. We're getting very, very close to having something that works at 200 mile an hour ball speed where you can play on TOUR with. It's awesome. I'm super happy with Cobra. We've done a really great job.

We came to a bit of a sticking point last year, and we burst through that wall and worked together to come up with something pretty cool. Ultimately, I have a driver that I've able to go 220 mile an hour ball speed with, which is really cool. They had that. They just don't have enough of them yet. We're working on it. It's just a supply issue from China.

As we continue to move forward, we're going to continue to iterate and make that better. As it comes to my mental game and my thought process in that, usually the mental game for me only affects me 10 percent positive or negative on my skill set. It's like I have a certain skill, and then it affects me positively 10 percent or negatively 10 percent.

That's why I work so hard because I'm always trying to improve the skill set because no matter my mental game, it wouldn't matter. But there was a point in time where that mental game encroached probably about 20 or 30 percent in a negative way, and that was just not a good place, not a good feeling from numerous factors and whatnot.

But at the end of the day, the way I look at it, it was a great learning experience for me and one that helped me be a better person after the strife and struggle of last year.

Q. I must also compliment you at the start for the nice tribute to Tim Rosaforte because we're all going to miss him.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Super sad about that. I've talked with him numerous times, and he's done a lot for me. I'm sure he's done a lot for every one of you all there. He meant the world to me. When I heard that, I cried. It's a very sad moment.

Q. It was. We've lost too many guys of late. Getting back to the topic at core, you've talked about growing the game. I know some of the things you're doing is growing the game professionally-wise, but how do we grow the game at the amateur level? Going to a place like Saudi, where there's hardly any golf, there might be one or two golfers, but how do you grow the game in countries like that as well?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I think more exposure around the world is very important. Showcasing the best golfers in very unique areas is important to continuing to grow the game.

Another thing that is important to me is the PLDA. I mean, Long Drive Association, you're going to get athletes that maybe didn't make it all the way to the major leagues or to NHL that are going to go try long drive, and they're going to continue to push the sport in an athletic direction in that manner.

So showcasing the best players around the world in a unique way, delivering a product that's different and unique, and also I would say growing the sport of long drive is something where people love going and hitting. There's something so natural about wanting to go hit something on the ground super far. You're just swinging your butt off and hitting it really far. It's a lot of fun.

When you get going, even if it doesn't go straight, sometimes it's just fun hitting it hard. It gets a lot of stress and anger out when you're going about it. But that's one way to grow the game. And I think the other way is, like I said before, showing the best players around the world in a unique and different light.

Q. Thanks and see you in a few weeks.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: See you in a few weeks.

Q. Just a question about the release system. Did you get that?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: The release system?

Q. I wanted to know if you -- obviously, you are starting to experience trying to get releases for different tournaments. I'm just wondering if you think, after your experience with Saudi, if this is something that needs to be taken a look at from a player standpoint?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah. I don't know how to answer that fully because, when we sign up for the PGA TOUR, we realize we sign pretty much -- we sign a lot away. So our media rights relative to what's going on that week on TOUR, I understand. They want to keep us and have us for that week. So there is a reason for these releases.

But I think as time goes on, people are starting to realize that we're independent contractors and we should be able to play wherever we want whenever we want. So it's a fickle process, and I don't necessarily know the answer to it, but I think the TOUR, as time is going on, is starting to realize that. I hope that they start realizing it's more player driven than anything.

Yeah, so I think over time the players -- there's going to be something different that comes about for me. I don't know what it is, though.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks. I think that wraps things up. It's been half an hour. Bryson, thank you for taking the time to go through all those questions. Really appreciate it. We look forward to seeing you out in Saudi Arabia.

Thanks to everyone for joining us.