Bryson DeChambeau’s appearance in next week’s Saudi International could be in doubt, with the big-hitting American seemingly plagued by multiple injury concerns as he limped to a missed cut at the Farmers Insurance Open.
In just his second start of the year, DeChambeau hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons as he repeatedly held his back while also struggling with his left wrist during a second-round 72 on the South Course at Torrey Pines.
The issues first became apparent when the 28-year-old turned for home, wincing in pain after launching a trademark missile off the 10th tee. To his credit, he soldiered on to the finish, birdieing the final two holes to miss out by just one stroke.
He declined to comment after the round - something no longer out of the ordinary - but could be heard saying: “I can’t play golf today”, after hitting out of a bunker on the 12th. Three holes later that was followed by a sarcastic: “That really felt good on my wrist”, as he escaped trouble on the 15th.
You can see and hear his distress in the clip below:
Lots of observers suspected Bryson’s back would eventually scupper him. Seems the trouble has started ahead of schedule. This is very Tiger-esque pic.twitter.com/wVLY9wCmUmJanuary 27, 2022
While the wrist complaint is nothing new - in a recent YouTube video, DeChambeau revealed that his left wrist started to give him grief towards the end of last year and forced him to withdraw from the Sony Open two weeks ago - perhaps the bigger concern will be the state of his back.
Many great players, past and present, have had their careers shortened due to injuries to this part of the body. That it's taken Bryson so long to show signs of wear and tear should actually be commended, given the extreme transformation he has undergone since he first revealed his plans to "come back next year looking like a different person" in October 2019.
DeChambeau is part of a star-studded field set to descend upon King Abdullah Economic City for next week's controversial Saudi International, now the headline act of the new-look Asian Tour. But with no news as to the extent of the damage, the event could be missing a major champion come February 3.
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