LIV GOLF GREENBRIER

August 6, 2023

Bryson DeChambeau

The Old White

Crushers GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Please give a huge round of applause to captain of Crushers GC, the winner of LIV Golf Greenbrier, Bryson DeChambeau.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Thank you. I appreciate it.

Q. I have so many questions for you, but obviously we have to start with addressing the fact that there has only been one other 58 in the history of men's professional golf. You are No. 2, the first obviously in LIV Golf League history. How are you feeling right now?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Where do I even begin? I pretty much felt like I blacked out after I made that putt, so I don't even know kind of what's going on.

It's beyond words. I've been working so hard for a long time, and I knew something special was going to come at some point, I just didn't know when. The way I played the first round was pretty much the worst I could have done. The second round was like, okay, obviously played really well, made a lot of good putts.

Then today I just kind of felt everything clicking. Missed it in the right places when I needed to, and putted beautifully today.

There was a point in time where I did think about the 54, but I kind of threw that to the wayside, like okay, just get under 60 first.

Then on 18, too, there was a lot of rain coming down. So I didn't know how the ball was going to fly through the air and spin, but I was lucky to keep it a little short and ended up spinning back unfortunately, but was able to sink the 40-footer just like I work on every single day in my practice.

Q. Obviously the hard has paid off. I know how hard you've been working, and I know you were struggling a little bit at the beginning of the year and you've been on this rise, came so close in Spain. To win your first LIV Golf event but to do it in such incredible style, tell us a little bit about that. Did you ever imagine you'd win with a 58?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No. Going 61-58, it's a possibility I never thought I would do at the Greenbrier, never thought I'd do it over the course of my career even. To even back up a 61 is really difficult. I had something special going today, and I just felt super comfortable over tee shots and was able to play the course the way it was designed, and G-Bo was able to keep my head calm, and when I started to get a little nervous he kept it fun and light and we had a great time out there.

I made the putt on 18, and he goes, what did you shoot? I'm like, 58. He's like, 58, what? He didn't really even know. It was quite a funny exchange afterwards. Probably the greatest moment in my golf career.

Q. Did you know there was only one other 58 in history or did you learn that after the fact?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, I've known that. I think it was Jim Furyk, wasn't it?

Q. Yeah.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: So being a part of the same agency, as well, is kind of fun, so my agent Brett, he was going nuts over it, as well as Andrew Witlieb. It was a lot of fun being able to call up Brett and say, I did it, I got under 60, which is pretty cool. Seemed like a kid in a candy shop to be honest with you.

Other than that, I can't say much more. I really don't know where I am right now.

Q. Apparently when you were playing junior golf you would play on the forward tees to get comfortable with hitting low scores. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, so for any junior golfers out there, it's probably the best thing you can do when trying to learn how to score. You go up to the red tees and try and shoot sub-60 rounds, for a good aspiring junior golfer that's trying to be a professional golfer. You just go to the front tees, try and shoot under 60. If you can do that and you consistently are able to do that every single round you play, get in that comfortable mind of, okay, I'm 10-, 11-, 12-under, let's keep going, pedal to the metal, that gets you in a great mindset.

That tremendously helped today, being able to say, okay, I'm 10-under; well, I can't stop. I've got to keep going. I've got to birdie 17, birdie 18, let's go, and having that sort of -- I'm not really going to say it in front of the media, like --

Q. The cojones?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, sort of the F-you mentality, like let's go, let's get it done. It's something that led to me shooting 58 today.

Q. Obviously Team Crushers performed really well this week. You guys are also on the podium. Did that factor into your mind at all today or were you more focused on --

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I was definitely trying to do as low as possible for the team. I knew they had it in them to go low, as well. They're all great, incredible professionals, and that's why they're on my team, because I trust and believe in them.

I love all three of them. I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of damage we can do moving forward the next three events.

Q. How are you going to celebrate this win tonight?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I have no idea. I have zero clue, but I'm going to have a lot of fun.

Q. Have you ever broken 60 in any kind of practice round, fun round, whatever?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: So I have. When I was a junior, when I was 15, 16, Mike Schy would tell me to go play the front tees and learn how to score, so I'd be driving it in these tight areas and getting up-and-down, and my wedge game got really good because of it as well as my putting because it was stressful; okay, I'm 8-under, 9-under.

So I did that a lot growing up.

Then I shot 59 in the pro-am at the Shriners 2020, I think. Anyway, I went and shot 9-under the next day, so it was 59 and then like 61 or 62 the next day. I played really well there at Shriners. So I have experience going low.

And then obviously Caves Valley, shooting 60, having a putt for a 59 and pulling that dang putt.

I was able to step on 17 and go, okay, this is for 59 and I was able to conquer those nerves on 17, and then 18 was just a bonus.

Q. When did it first creep into your mind today? Was it after the sixth birdie? Was it earlier?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it was after I made birdie on 7 and then I proceeded to make a nice little bogey on 8. Then I backed it up with a couple birdies on 9, 10. Pulled the drive on 11, was a little afraid of missing it right for some reason. So whatever, able to hit it up there close, and I almost made that putt on 11, like oh, my gosh, I could have gone on a heater if I hadn't bogeyed 8 and then made the birdie on 11.

Birdied 12. 13, I was just trying to stay right of that bunker up by the green, and I just pushed it a little bit. Almost made that actually.

14 I left right in the heart and then I just went on a heater the last little bit.

Q. When was it you said you actually thought about 54? When was that?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: That was actually right after the first six out of seven. I was like, okay, if I eagle one of the par-5s and I keep going at this pace, it could be dangerous.

Q. Somebody said it was -- 58s aren't easy, but you were hitting it so close every time. Did you feel like this was an easy 58 in that regard?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Man, if there's any easy 58, I don't know who you're talking to. But certainly in my mind it felt very simple to go 8-, 9-under today with how I was hitting it and where I was hitting it and how good I was putting it, as well.

If there's ever a time I could say that, this is the moment, but it doesn't come around very often, and I've got to relish it.

Q. Mito kept --

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I saw.

Q. -- the pressure on.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I was watching. I absolutely knew the whole day, and I saw him not letting off the pedal, and I'm like, okay, I've got to answer.

When I get in that mentality, it can get pretty scary for others.

Q. Do you think that helps you in regards to versus just cruising --

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, yeah, if there's nobody applying a little bit of pressure -- I'd rather have it be like a shot off the lead or one shot ahead of the guy and say whatever, and not see the scoreboard for four or five holes because then I just focus in okay, I've got to birdie, I've got to birdie, I've got to birdie. It just allows me to get into a pretty dominant mindset.

Q. When the rain started, did you think that might impact --

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, it did impact some shots. The last hole I tried to play a lower shot in there just to keep it down, kind of skip it up, and I skipped it up but it just spun back. There was a lot of spin that I produced on that shot.

Q. Can you just take us through your mindset on 18 as you approached the putt?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: As I approached the putt, I'm thinking, don't give myself a three-footer. It was just get it as close as possible.

Once we did a bit of the calculations, it was like, all right, it's a 40-footer, and I hit a 40-footer to start off every single day in practice, and I know exactly what a 40-footer feels like. So I just made that feeling, and I stroked it, and it was perfectly on line. Three-fourths of the way there I'm like, oh, my gosh, this isn't going to go in, is it? And I'm like, this is for 58, this is for 58, this is for 58, and then I explode. That was fun.

Q. We've talked about your driver change, talked about your putting. Are you surprised it happened so quickly? It was almost like you get the driver in the bag and all of a sudden 58.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I think that's kind of how it happens in golf. For some reason it just clicks. It's one round. It's one shot. It's one putt or something that just allows yourself to go, I've got it, and then you get right back on that train.

Q. We talked the other day about just the impression that LIV Golf leaves on the communities that it comes to. Considering your record performance and the great performances around you, what kind of impression do you think you guys left upon Greenbrier in terms of perhaps returning to this place in years to come?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I hope people see the value we bring to the community in regards to not only from just marketing and sales but an enjoyment factor. It's a party. We're having fun out here. We're selling tickets to Zac Brown, doing things a little differently than most.

I think from a community impact and what it's done for the Greenbrier, I hope people see how positive LIV is for the game of golf in general, and that's what we're going to continue to do globally.

I'm certainly excited about that, and for this week I think that the Greenbrier was a tremendous venues, and the volunteers, the people, everyone out here were just incredible, and the atmosphere was electric.

I hope people see that, and certainly excited to come back here, obviously. I shot 58, so I'd want to come back.

Q. Every time I show up to any of these events you're the first one out there and I'm surprised -- you're probably going to be out on the range after this, but I just want to know for me personally as a West Virginian, about an hour and 50 minutes from here growing up, born and raised in Charleston, we don't have many professional teams. We treat West Virginia University, all their sports like pro teams, and just to have something back like this in West Virginia, through the rain, what did you think of all the locals just sticking through it on 18 and just that roar when it went in the hole?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, the passion that these fans have out here, they're looking for something, and I think that's why this is such a great venue. You've got 12 teams out there to root for. You pick whoever you want.

Then you've obviously got the individual side, so it gives people numerous opportunities to enjoy and have a unique experience, and man, again, the fans were awesome on that last hole, making that putt and seeing everybody just go nuts in that stadium sort of atmosphere was pretty electric.

Q. I know you have been working with your new swing coach. How much is that a credit to your ball-striking? Your ball-striking has been tremendous lately. What are your thoughts on that?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, he's definitely helped me get out of a bit of a rut. Danny has been very helpful in the golf swing, and I think it just got to a point, too, where a lot of it wasn't really me, it was a little bit of the equipment, and once I changed the equipment, everything kind of fit in, and it was like, okay, this is what it is.

It's been great. But Danny has been awesome. He's helped me a lot. His passion is there, and he's done a great job.

Q. Safe to say you lived up to the great Bobby Bradley nickname of "DeChambino" this weekend?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: DeChambino, let's go.

Q. There's so much history at this place, golf and otherwise; what does it mean to you to have the lowest round at this course and be among the top pieces of history at the Greenbrier?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I don't know what to make of it. It's just happened less than an hour ago. Other than the fact Sam Snead -- my dad was fortunate enough to meet him when he played the U.S. Mid-Am, and that was in the year 2000. Playing over here and getting to meet him, my dad talking to me about him and who he was as a person, what he meant to the game of golf was amazing.

Then obviously there's been a lot of great history around this golf course. I always felt -- coming out here in 2016 or 2017, 2018, 2019, this golf course always fit my eye really, really well. After 2019 I was like, I want another chance at this, I want another go at it, and luckily LIV was able to secure this and I was able to come back here and play the best golf I've played in a long time with a lot of the greats.

Just having my place in history here is something I'll cherish for the rest of my life.

Q. Not that you needed any vindication, but does a moment like this and performance like this vindicate your decision to join the LIV Tour, and are you happy that this moment came with LIV?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, 1,000 percent. I can't thank LIV enough for what they've done for men's professional golf. They have completely changed the narrative on what it means to be a professional golfer, how you can root for professionals, how you can enjoy the game of golf differently, and their vision has been always intriguing to me, and obviously going through with it, seeing what it's all about, even if I had never won a LIV event, it was still amazing what LIV was doing to impact communities around the world globally and grow the game of golf.

People say that's not what they're doing. I really think over the course of time they're going to continue to grow the game of professional golf globally.

I'm excited for that, and you see a case here at Greenbrier. It's definitely showcasing a unique experience for a lot of fans with live entertainment a couple nights ago with Zac Brown, and I don't know what else to say other than thank you to LIV for everything they've done. It's been an amazing ride, and I can't wait to see what the next decade and couple decades bring.

Q. 61-58 back-to-back. Unbelievable. You mentioned Sam Snead, getting to meet him. You mentioned your father. Do you think maybe both of their spirits were kind of shining down here today and helping you?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I mean, definitely. Anytime you talk about my dad, he would have -- I know he's watching. I know he's proud. I know he's smiling up there.

I really wasn't thinking too much; I had a job to do. But afterwards when I made that putt and sat over there on the side, I'm like, man, I wish my dad could have been here, but I know he was watching it. It was really cool to have this moment.

But it really wasn't about me in that moment, it was more of he's given his whole life for me. My dad gave everything to have me be the best I possibly could be, and -- yeah. I mean, there's a reason why all this happened. I understand it now. I thank God and I thank my dad for everything he did for me.