Bryson DeChambeau walked onto the first tee at Royal Birkdale this week carrying more than just his clubs. He’s carrying the weight of a season that has already gone sideways in three of the four biggest events in golf. And if things don’t turn around fast, he’ll end up in a record book nobody wants to be in.
DeChambeau has missed the cut this year at the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the U.S. Open. That’s three swings, three early exits. Another one at The Open would put him in truly rare air. According to golf stats researcher Justin Ray, no multiple-major winner under the age of 40 has ever missed the cut in all four majors in a single season since the Masters started in 1934. And in the modern era, it simply hasn’t happened. Not once.
That’s the kind of stat that stops you cold. Because this isn’t some journeyman who caught lightning in a bottle once. This is a two-time U.S. Open champion. The guy who pounded his way to a win at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2024 and looked like the most intimidating driver in the sport. He was the guy you picked to win the big one when you needed a sure thing. Now he’s fighting just to see a Saturday tee time.
How We Got Here
The fall has been fast. DeChambeau’s game has looked scrambled at the majors in 2026. He came into the season talking about dialing in his equipment and sharpening his short game. It hasn’t translated. He missed the cut at Augusta by a handful of shots. The PGA at Valhalla wasn’t better. The U.S. Open at Oakmont — a place where power should have been an advantage — ate him alive.
Injuries haven’t been the story. Swing changes haven’t been the public excuse either. It’s just been a stretch where nothing clicks when it matters most. The explosiveness is still there in flashes. But four rounds of it? Not so far.
The history he’s trying to dodge is specific and brutal. Since 1934, the list of multiple-major winners under 40 who missed all four cuts is exactly zero. Before 1960, only a few players even attempted all four in a season. But in the modern era, it’s a clean line. And DeChambeau is standing at the edge of it.
One Good Stretch Changes Everything
The funny thing about history is it only counts if it happens. DeChambeau can still walk off the 18th green at Royal Birkdale on Friday with a number under the cut line and wipe this whole conversation away. Nobody remembers the near-miss. They remember the guy who turned it around.
He’s got the game to do it. The Open at a links course like Birkdale rewards creativity and patience. DeChambeau has shown both before, when he finished top-10 at Royal Liverpool in 2023. The tools are there. It’s just about putting 36 holes together without the kind of blowup that has wrecked his other three starts.
If he misses again, the 2026 season won’t just be a footnote. It’ll be the year one of the most gifted players of his generation completely whiffed on the biggest stages. And that’s a footnote nobody in golf expected to read.
Leave a Comment