'The people love him': Bryson DeChambeau is one of the main characters at this Ryder Cup

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- It is conscionable past 3 p.m. connected Tuesday of Ryder Cup week, and the mostly-empty driving scope astatine Bethpage State Park has transformed into a stage.

The spectacle is lasting country only, taking spot connected the acold near broadside of the scope wherever a red-faced Bryson DeChambeau is launching balls into the Long Island entity successful hunt of the magic number: 200 mph shot speed. There seems to beryllium nary evident intent to this quest beyond what DeChambeau is hyperaware of arsenic helium does it: the assemblage astir him wants to spot it.

"Rory can't bash that, Bryson!" a instrumentality calls out.

"I heard he's nervous!" shouts another. 191.

This is what DeChambeau's stump code looks like, his each lash astatine the shot a benignant of creed helium knows however to propagate. 193. With a elephantine surface near of the scope showing precisely however acold and accelerated each shot is going, there's play successful each swing. 196. The congregation lone gets louder. A "USA" chant begins. At 1 point, a smiling J.J. Spaun walks implicit to DeChambeau and joins in.

"Come on, amusement maine something," Spaun says. DeChambeau doesn't respond. He conscionable swings again. 198. 199.

The two-time U.S. Open victor isn't conscionable leaning into it all; he's feeding disconnected of it, determined to springiness them what they want. DeChambeau lets different 1 rip and the recoil astir knocks him disconnected his feet. 200 mph. 361-yard carry. Turning backmost toward the crowd, helium flashes a wry grin and shrugs.

"Bryson, this is his arena," Xander Schauffele said. "If helium views himself arsenic a gladiator golfer, this is arsenic bully arsenic it gets."

The Ryder Cup presents a unsocial scenario: DeChambeau's persona -- telephone it antics, histrionics, showmanship oregon an acquired sensation -- is tailor-made for this week. The sport's astir melodramatic lawsuit presents a mounting that allows DeChambeau to beryllium the astir unabashed mentation of himself, a operation of towering thespian and crowd-pleasing stone star. Could that construe to a winning formula?

"I was telling Keegan, I consciousness similar Bryson could beryllium similar the quality for us, successful a unusual way, from the standpoint of feeding into these fans, the benignant of play helium plays," Schauffele said. "I deliberation his points mightiness deed harder than my points."

When DeChambeau stepped up to the archetypal tee astatine Whistling Straits successful 2021 and drove the green, the mode successful which helium ignited the assemblage and went connected to triumph that lucifer is remembered with fondness to this day.

Since that ascendant 19-9 American victory, that benignant of frenzy astir DeChambeau has lone skyrocketed. Despite leaving for LIV successful 2022 and not being connected the 2023 Ryder Cup squad that mislaid successful Rome, his popularity was astatine an all-time precocious aft winning the 2024 U.S. Open and continuing to entreaty to fans online with his YouTube channel.

It's nary concealed that DeChambeau takes each accidental to beforehand and notation YouTube and how, successful his mind, it has some helped his crippled and helped this conception of "growing the game." But this quality pivot -- this improvement -- to some, feels inauthentic and self-centered.

"Bryson plays astir of his play connected a circuit wherever helium mostly could beryllium successful the witnesser extortion program," Golf Channel expert Brandel Chamblee said Monday during the network's sum of the Ryder Cup. "Nobody watches, helium doesn't get immoderate attention. So erstwhile helium does travel out, there's a spot of a circus-barker constituent to it to drum up immoderate involvement for himself."

Other players person bristled astatine his attack successful the past (see: Brooks Koepka) oregon successful the present, including Rory McIlroy, who did not talk to DeChambeau astatine the Masters erstwhile they paired unneurotic for the last round. Recently, DeChambeau said that helium would beryllium "chirping successful [Rory's] ear" this week astatine Bethpage. McIlroy's response?

"I deliberation the lone mode helium gets attraction is by mentioning different people," helium said.

Whether it's existent oregon facetious, whethe...