Bryson DeChambeau’s career is booming like one of his trademark drives off the tees of par-5 holes. DeChambeau highlighted his 2020 season with a six-stroke victory in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, elevating him to the top of the PGA Tour for the moment.

And though he didn’t live up to his own expectations and boasts at The Masters Tournament and struggled a bit in the early going this season, the 27-year-old Californian is back on track with his latest victory.

Winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational doesn’t make him “The Man” just yet – Dustin Johnson continues to rule the PGA Tour – but it sure brought out the kid in the world’s sixth-ranked player.

Bryson DeChambeau has joined some fine company

Bryson DeChambeau has registered some hefty accomplishments since finishing as the low amateur at the 2015 Masters and turning pro the following season. He scored his first PGA Tour victory at the 2017 John Deere Classic, triumphed four times the following year, and made the Ryder Cup Team in 2018 and the Presidents Cup Team in 2019.

Last year was his biggest step forward yet with a U.S. Open championship and a fourth-place showing at the PGA Championship. He’s now one of the biggest attractions on the course when galleries are allowed, thanks to his heavy hitting off the tees.

The first weekend of March 2021 saw DeChambeau cross another item off his to-do-list as he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by one shot over Lee Westwood.

Just about every player on the PGA Tour would list the four grand-slam events as the tournaments they want to play – and win. The Players Championship, being held this week at TPC Sawgrass, and the biennial Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup competitions would be next on many lists. After that, the sport’s best often point to the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Memorial, hosted by Jack Nicklaus.

Palmer and Nicklaus elevated the sport to new levels of popularity, helping make millionaires out of the generations of young stars who followed. DeChambeau had previously won The Memorial in 2018. By winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, he became the eighth golfers to have triumphed in both. Some of the others on that distinguished list include Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Paul Azinger, and Hale Irwin.

Bryson DeChambeau partied like a child ahead of The Players Championship

Winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 7 posed a bit of a problem for Bryson DeChambeau. Having played PGA Tour events three weeks in a row and capped that stretch by winning, the natural temptation might have been for him to take family and friends out for some wild partying that ended deep into the morning.

That wasn’t an option for DeChambeau, who didn’t have the luxury of taking the following week off. The trip from Orlando to Ponte Vedra, Florida, may have only required three hours by car, but DeChambeau wasn’t going to have his Monday and early preparations for The Players Championship wiped out by a night of partying.

His celebration was about as low-key as it gets.

“I went into the locker room afterwards and hung out with quite a few of the folk there,” DeChambeau said after arriving at The Players Championship. “I had a chocolate milk and I had some Arnold Palmer gummies. It was like iced tea and lemonade gummies. That was kind of funny, it was kind of a tribute to him. We had a little bit of champagne, as well, and popped a bottle. That was fun.”

There were two more stops to make

After leaving Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Bryson DeChambeau visited Amy Saunders, the youngest daughter of Arnold Palmer, and her husband to reminisce about the golf legend and his effect on the sport.

“I think that was a moment that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life, looking at all his memorabilia up on the wall. That was pretty special.”

Bryson DeChambeau

After that, DeChambeau wrapped up his title-winning day by returning to the home of longtime friends where he stayed for the week.

“They were nice enough to host me all week in this beautiful home and I played some pinball, funnily enough,” DeChambeau said. “They had a pinball machine downstairs, so I was playing that for a little while. And then 11 o’clock to 12 o’clock comes around and I’m just in bed getting ready to come up to The Players Championship for this week.”

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