Readying for his U.S. Open defense, Bryson DeChambeau shares great story about origin of marathon range sessions

Reigning U.S. Open champions are always busy in the lead up to returning to the national championship. But when you’re YouTube content king Bryson DeChambeau, the hustle seems to reach a new level.

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It’s approaching a year since DeChambeau tamed Pinehurst No. 2 when he hit one of the most memorable short-game shots in U.S. Open history by saving par from a 55-yard bunker shot on the last hole to win his second U.S. Open by one over Rory McIlroy.

DeChambeau’s popularity has soared since and he now has more than 2 million followers on his channel. Recently, DeChambeau’s video production team posted a viral clip of the LIV Golf member taking part in a whirlwind day of commitments. DeChambeau awoke at 5.30 a.m. and travelled (presumably from his Dallas base) to Utah to hit drives in the mountains, as well as iron shots off the Bonneville Salt Flats, where vehicle speed world records are often set. Recently, DeChambeau also hit balls at the White House with President Donald Trump.

“Hitting golf balls off the salt flats, I literally picked up salt and I have it in my house; I'm using it for some of the meals … which is really cool,” DeChambeau said in his press conference ahead of LIV Golf Virginia at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, his final competitive appearance before defending his U.S. Open title at Oakmont next week.

“The White House was incredibly special. I never thought I would in my life get an opportunity to do it, but the President himself was, like, ‘Just go out there and hit some shots.’ I was, like, OK, yes sir.’”

Clearly, being a dual U.S. Open champion comes with a wide variety of commitments. But DeChambeau isn’t afraid of hard work, as we knew from his marathon range sessions at major championships over the years. It’s a source of great pride for the Modesto, Calif., native, who gave an answer of several minutes when asked about the genesis of his formidable work ethic. He said it began while practicing as a junior at Belmont Country Club in Fresno.

“I learned that work ethic was the most important thing,” DeChambeau said. “A Ben Hogan quote stuck out to me one day reading one of his books, that ‘a day that you aren't practicing is another day that somebody else is getting better than you.’

“Consequently, when I realized other kids were better than me by practicing less hours, I quickly started to realize I have to work harder. It got to this place where it was eight to nine hours [a day] of practice. There were Saturdays where I'd count golf ball buckets and see if I could hit over 1,000 balls in a day. I did it a few times where my hands were cut up, bleeding, and I had to recover for a few days. I realized going all in one day wasn't necessarily the best mode of practice.

“I think it just became a bit of an obsession of, how do I get better than others? Because I wasn't the best in California growing up. You had guys like Patrick Grimes, Paul Smith, Patrick Rodgers, and Beau Hossler, numerous others that were continually better than me, and they would practice, from what I would see, not even close to as much as me. It instilled a deep-rooted, hard-working mentality of dig it out of the dirt like Ben Hogan said. That's where it stemmed from.”

The grind led DeChambeau to a U.S. Amateur title in 2015, then nine PGA Tour wins as a pro before joining LIV in 2022 and claiming three more titles there. Next week at Oakmont, he will attempt to emulate his LIV colleague Brooks Koepka (2017, 2018) in successfully defending a U.S. Open title.

“Yeah, I think I'm always chasing history, everybody is,” said DeChambeau, who won his first U.S. Open at Winged Foot in 2020. “We're all trying to accomplish feats that haven't been done in a long time, and going back-to-back would be great. Three in a row would be an even better accomplishment. So it is in the back of my head.”

DeChambeau is arguably in the best form of his career, particularly at the majors. He recorded a career-best result at this year’s Masters, tying for fifth after taking the lead through two holes on Sunday playing in the final group with eventual winner McIlroy. He then finished T-2 behind Scottie Scheffler at last month’s PGA Championship at Qual Hollow, one year after being second to Xander Schauffele at Valhalla.

The 31-year-old hasn’t played competitive golf since Qual Hollow, although his last start on LIV was a victory in South Korea.

DeChambeau said the testing conditions at the 7,354-yard Robert Trent Jones Golf Club were, in his words, ideal for Oakmont —one of the toughest examinations among major venues.

“I think this is a great setup for Oakmont next week; the rough out here at RTJ is really long,” he said. “You've got to drive the ball well. It is a bit of a bomber's paradise, but you have to hit the fairway.

“The greens will get faster as the week goes on. I hit an 8-iron on number 4 yesterday [in practice] that rolled out like eight, nine yards. It's becoming a good, tough test of golf. If the wind picks up, this is going to be a brutal test.”