US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau has been left “frustrated and disappointed” after failing to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 30-year-old fended off Northern Irish star Rory McIlroy, who missed two brutal putts on the final three holes, to his win his second US Open title over the weekend, jumping to No. 10 on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
However, DeChambeau still missed out on one of Team USA’s four spots for the Paris Games, which get underway in the French capital next month.
The United States is allowed to take four men to the Olympics, with Scottie Scheffler (No. 1), Xander Schauffele (No. 3), Wyndham Clark (No. 5) and Collin Morikawa (No. 7) qualifying for the marquee event courtesy of their OWGR ranking.
DeChambeau, who was ranked 155th ranking at the end of the 2023 season, expressed his disappointment during a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. Three years ago, the American qualified for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics but was forced to withdraw after contracting Covid-19.
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“I would love to represent the United States,” DeChambeau said.
“It was tough for me not to go last time around because of Covid, just one of those things that happened.
“Hopefully one day this game of golf will get figured out and come back together, and I’ll be able to play.
“I’m playing great golf. I’m excited. Am I frustrated and disappointed? Sure you could absolutely say that but I made the choices that I made and there’s consequences to that and I respect it.
“But hopefully it’s sooner rather than later we figure that out so this great game of golf, we can get past all of that and move forward into showing how awesome this sport actually is around the globe.”
DeChambeau, who joined Saudi Arabian-backed circuit LIV Golf in 2022, almost certainly would have placed higher on the OWGR if he were playing on the PGA Tour. LIV submitted an application for its events to be eligible for OWGR points, but the request was rejected last year.
“Because of the back and forth with the tours and the World Golf Rankings and all that stuff, there’s a special Olympic ranking list, as well,” sports broadcaster Mike Tirico said on NBC over the weekend.
“Bryson DeChambeau and the LIV guys aren’t a part of that, and that’s a disappointment … he should be representing the U.S.
“Of everything that has happened with the sport, there are unintended consequences that are hurting the game. And that’s another one of them.”
Former American golf star Brandel Chamblee replied: “I would agree that it is unfortunate, but all of the players that went to LIV, they well knew, they well knew that they were going to a tour that did not qualify for World Ranking points.
“They’ve made no concessions to gain those points by altering their format in such a way that they could.”
DeChambeau will need to wait until the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, which will be staged at Riviera Country Club, for another opportunity to represent his country at the Games.