(Reuters) – Bryson DeChambeau, who incited chants of “U.S.A, U.S.A!” en route to his U.S. Open triumph, said on Monday he is frustrated that he will not be competing at the Paris Olympics but accepts that his move to LIV Golf ultimately cost him that chance.
DeChambeau, a fan favourite all week at the U.S. Open where he finished one shot clear of Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, does not earn ranking points from his LIV Golf events and so fell short of making the U.S. team.
“Hopefully one day this game of golf will get figured out and come back together and I will be able to play (in the Olympics),” world number 10 DeChambeau said on Monday during an appearance on The Pat McAfee show.
“I’m playing great golf, I’m excited, but ultimately yeah, 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.”
The men’s field for the Aug. 1-4 Olympic men’s golf event will feature 60 players. The top 15 world-ranked players will be eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country.
Beyond the top 15, players are eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15.
Currently Scottie Scheffler (1), Xander Schauffele (3), Wyndham Clark (5) and Collin Morikawa (7) are the four highest Americans in the ranking followed by Patrick Cantlay (8).
In March, LIV Golf announced that it formally withdrew its application to have players receive world ranking points from its tournaments after the OWGR earlier rejected its bid due to concerns about the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit’s format.
DeChambeau, who has embraced his role as golf’s showman, joined the rebel circuit two years ago and maintained a lofty spot in the rankings through his results at the majors, which allow LIV players so long as they meet the qualifying criteria.
Talks between the PGA Tour and Saudi backers of LIV Golf regarding a potential deal have accelerated in recent months, and DeChambeau is hopeful some sort of agreement between the rival circuits will soon come.
“Hopefully sooner rather than later we figure that out so this great game of golf we can get past all of that and move forward and show how awesome this sport actually is around the world,” said DeChambeau.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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