LIV GOLF SOUTH AFRICA

March 20, 2026

Bryson DeChambeau

The Club at Steyn City

Crushers GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Bryson, welcome back. 6-under 65, 14-under for the event with the solo lead through 36 holes. On the first hole your approach shot there, please take us through that shot and what that type of result can do to start a round.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it was interesting off the tee, the wind switched off the left to more in and I kind of got a little nervous and pushed it out to the right, right of the green. Thought it would be fine, rolled just in the rough in pretty much the worst place I could be besides like the downslope of the bunker or something crazy, or a really bad lie, to that pin.

All I was thinking was, just hit it a little left, a little long, make a 12-footer for birdie, nothing crazy.

At the last moment I just said, I feel like I can hit this harder and push it more towards the hole, and I did that. I mean, I didn't think I'd fly it in, but I hooped it, and that was one of the worst celebrations I've ever had in my entire life, so pretty disappointed in that, actually.

Q. I'm going to give you a moment to decompress before the technical stuff flies at you. I want to talk about chocolate milk. Have you tried any South African chocolate milk yet?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I did try one. I don't remember the name. But it was good.

Q. Was it Super M or Steri Stumpie?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I'll let you guys know tomorrow.

Q. That approach shot on 18, again, I was standing behind the 18th and your distance control on that wood was unbelievable. Can you try and capture just the 18th green and how that compares to some of the bigger competitions you've ever played?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it was surreal. I was talking to G-Bo out there saying, can you believe this? Look at this; this feels like a Sunday with Gracey going off and playing well and the crowd super supporting him.

Me getting the unbelievable support, as well, walking down 18, I mean, it really did feel like Sunday out there already, and it's only Friday.

I can't wait to see what the weekend brings. But this atmosphere is something that I want to play in a lot more, and I know we can do that across the globe.

But this place is just a special place. It's exceeded my expectations.

Q. The atmosphere you spoke about. 17 didn't go according to plan today --

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Not at all. Chunked the crap out of that. That was fun.

Q. How desperate are you to maybe see an ace? There's water, fans that encroached beyond -- how excited would you be to ace 17 in South Africa?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, the given the fact I've only made one other hole-in-one in my entire professional career, it would be such an amazing second hole-in-one for me. Just for South Africa, I think South Africa wants to see a 1 out there on 17, and they deserve a 1. I hope it happens this weekend, and hopefully the rules officials are nice and give us an easy pin.

Q. Branden stuck it close, made his birdie. I saw the fist bump. Are you getting South Africa more on your side by being mates with Branden, or is there some strategy there, because we're treating you like one of our own?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I appreciate it. No, it was an unbelievable shot and a great birdie. I've done that with Chucky, I've done that with Gracey in numerous other instances. That was just a cool moment in the Lion's Den, being able to hit a good shot like that and make the putt easily. There's respect there. It's not trying to do anything. It's just me being authentic and saying, good shot, great putt.

Q. You are the epitome of just balls-to-the-wall, go-hard kind of golf. I think you and Jon Rahm are the epitome of that. Do you feel like the setup of LIV has helped you take that to another level?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Man, not last week. I felt like I was dialing everything back. I think playing on different grasses, playing on different surfaces, going from the most fast greens in the world last week to greens that are normal this week and championship style greens, you know, it's just something that we have to adapt to.

I think learning to adapt in different places has helped me become a better golfer in that regard. Sometimes we all wish they'd be more consistent, but I also think that adversity is helping me for places like the Open Championship or even the PGA when weather comes in or the Masters if it gets really baked out on Saturday.

I feel like there's enough diversity out here that it allows us -- for me, it benefits me in understanding how to play in different scenarios and try to gather that information and really hold that in the back of my head.

I do think in some instances it's helped. I know other tours have the same thing, but we just go to completely different grasses all the time, and we have to learn to adapt pretty quick. It's been nice to become more of a complete golfer with that opportunity.

Q. You talk about adapting. A lot of golfers, professional golfers when at the come to South Africa, they talk about how they have to adapt to the kikuyu grass on the fairways because the ball sits a little bit higher and you mentioned you were reworking your wedges since Hong Kong. I wonder if you could comment a little bit about that, if you found that out there, and what kind of adjustments you've made in terms of bounces and that of your wedges?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I got pretty lucky, last week was similar grass types and I put more bounce on my 55 and 50 and that ultimately really helped and it's helped this week. Clearly need more bounce on my 45 degree because of 17. That was pretty embarrassing for me even.

But it's definitely helped having more bounce, and I got pretty lucky, so we'll see. I've got two sets and one has got lower bounce and one has higher bounce for Augusta, depending on conditions. So we'll see.

Q. When the idea of LIV Golf South Africa was first floated, you had a long conversation with the minister of sport back then when you went to Korea. You guys had a moment on the first tee box, as well. In the time that has passed and now you being here, you've not experienced a lot outside of Steyn City, but has South Africa lived up to your expectations or exceeded them in any way?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it's fully exceeded my expectations. Seeing him on the first tee again, it was great to give him a hug and say thank you for everything you've done because this is -- what a special event this place and this week is. We've got two more days of it, so it's only just beginning, which is the best part.

Really grateful, and it's definitely exceeded all my expectations.

Q. Going into the weekend, sitting in the position you're in, do you change strategy? What will it be going into Saturday and Sunday?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Just hit the ball better and make more putts. I focus on my own game, and however the cards may play out, they'll play out, and just give myself a chance going into the back nine on Sunday with the lead or hopefully a chance to win.

Q. Bryson, obviously through 36 holes you've been the most popular non-South African out here. What do you think is going to be like the back Sunday on night especially if you're battling Gracey or Burmy?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I'll probably lose my hearing. So excited for that. It'll be a great test. It'll be an awesome test and I'll learn from it. It'll be a great experience and I'll put it in the library and learn as much as I can from it.

Q. When you look at tournaments and the importance of them, obviously the majors take precedence over anything else, but do you also look at tournaments like this that have some type of historical significance, community significance, and where a win might rank in that?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, definitely. Last week I never would have thought I'd win on that golf course just with the game that I have and how difficult it is off the tee, how tight it is. There's so much history at Sentosa. Coming here to South Africa for the first time, having a chance to compete for that individual title and team title to win here for the first time, you know, ever coming here, would be really special.

There's a lot of great players that have some from South Africa, whether it's the Southern Guards, all of them, or Ernie Els, Gary Player, you name it. There's a bunch of others, as well. So it would be cool for my first time coming here to achieve that, but there's 36 more holes, right?

But it would be quite the honor, yeah.

Q. Bryson, I took a walk to the merchandise store earlier on just to see what's happening, and the number of people purchasing Crushers gear was absolutely phenomenal. Does that speak to what you mentioned to us yesterday about growing the game of golf, LIV Golf taking the game to a bigger, wider audience out there?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I agree to that, and I think the Southern Guards and South Africa has provided an amazing opportunity for all of us to show our skill set out here, so for people to go out and buy merchandise at the tents, fantastic.

That's not the ultimate goal for us. The ultimate goal is to inspire -- being able to hit a tee shot and a kid go, oh, my gosh, it's so cool, and then being able to sign an autograph and give a high five as I walk up to another tee box, that's what makes me feel good in playing golf.

Obviously making birdies and playing great golf matters, and I still get frustrated and disappointed when things don't go my way. But I look back on it ultimately when I give a fist bump or a high five, that weighs a lot more on me, and I think it's really cool to see that we're doing this around the globe, especially here in South Africa.

Q. Over your career, the peaks of form that you've shown, whether it's fall of 2020, late '23 into '24, where would you say you currently are in form compared to those?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I feel like I'm getting closer to when I shot 58 at Greenbrier. That's what I've been striving to get back to. I lost it a little bit. I've been working with Dana and then Sportsbox to figure out what exactly I did back in '23 at Greenbrier. I feel like I'm getting close to that again. So hopefully I can keep pushing towards that direction and roll strong.

Q. Is there a reason the 58 single round stands out to you more than the '24 U.S. Open four rounds?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I hit it way better at Greenbrier than the U.S. Open. I'm not saying which tournament is better --

Q. Why did that feel better do you think?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It was the greatest swing performance of my entire career. I just remember being able to step up on the tee and not even think about anything and it would do exactly what I was seeing. It was like a video game to me for a while. I didn't really know exactly what I was doing, but I had just fallen into this pattern.

So I've learned over the past couple years -- and played great golf. I won the U.S. Open, and I'm so grateful for that, in that time span. But as a golfer my entire life, I always strive to be a better striker of the ball, putter, chipper, you name it. I'm always striving to feel what I felt during those moments because you get to that place and nothing else -- it's almost like nothing else matters. It's a weird but really cool feeling that not too many people get. I've been fortunate enough to experience some cool moments, and hopefully I can get back to that feeling again because that's when I play my best, when I'm free and I'm not worried about, oh, am I pushing it right or pulling it left off the tee. But hopefully I can get there.