Tulsa, Okla. – Bryson DeShampoo He won’t be in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills on Thursday after all, after withdrawing from the Major after playing a practice round Wednesday.
“After careful consideration, I decided to send WD from PGAChampionship,” DeChambeau posted on Twitter late Wednesday afternoon. “I want to make a full return when I am 100% ready to compete at the highest level in golf. Thank you all for your continued support!”
It looked as if DeChambeau was going back to competitive golf after missing over a month while recovering from surgery to repair a bone in his left wrist.
He spent the day hitting several shots from different tees at Southern Hills Country Club, working the ball in different directions while testing his wrist, which was coiled up several inches up his left forearm. Several engines pounded while playing back nine, and he showed no signs of pain.
When asked during his practice run about how his left wrist feels, Deschamps was shy: “It’s still attached.”
However, it was not meant to be his return.
Dechambeau, 28, has been out since early April and missed the cuts at the Masters last month, the first major tournament of the season, after collecting a total of 12 more in the first two rounds. He chose to have surgery on his left wrist to repair a broken hook in the hamet.
The typical recovery period is four to six weeks.
“I’m proud of the fact that I’m here,” Dechambeau, who played a practice round on Tuesday, said in an interview with Golf Channel before pulling out of the event. “I’m proud to have been able to persevere through it. I’ve been through a lot of things lately and the game hasn’t been fun for me, so I’m excited to come back and give it again. Everyone deserves a second chance.”
Sign autographs and take selfies with fans for 10 minutes while waiting between a few holes. DeChambeau appeared to be in good spirits on Wednesday, joking and chatting with his play partner, Anirban Lahiri.
On the 14th hole, the 230-yard Par-3 hit a low six-iron tie on the forward vault, then immediately dropped a second ball in light frustration. On his second attempt, he equalized high in the middle of the green. There seemed to be no hesitation in swaying, even when coming off solid ground.
DeChambeau, who won the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot, slipped to 22nd in the world golf rankings (down from No. 5 at his peak) of 219 in FedEx Cup points. He has missed the cutoff in three of his past four starts and has only one place in the top 25 in five games this season.
In 2020, he finished fourth in the PGA Championship at Harding Park, his best achievement in a major outside of his victory at the US Open at Winged Foot.
Denny McCarthy He was added to the field for the first round on Thursday in place of Dechambeau’s absence.
