Bryson DeChambeau blames 'equipment' as Open hopes hang by a thread

Bryson DeChambeau believes his equipment was to blame for his error-strewn opening round at Royal Troon, with his chances of winning The Open hanging by a thread.

A month removed from his US Open victory at Pinehurst No. 2, DeChambeau carded a five-over-par round of 76 on the west coast of Scotland, leaving him with plenty of work to do to make the weekend.

DeChambeau battled away to the end and eagled the 16th to boost his hopes of making the cut and grinding his way back into the tournament, but he has plenty to figure out before his second round on Friday after pointing the blame at his equipment in the immediate aftermath of his round.

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"I'm going to go figure it out. It's something equipment-related," DeChambeau said. "The golf ball is... look, I'm not at 190mph ball speed, so particularly when I'm hitting driver or 3-wood, those clubs are built for around that speed, that 190mph ball speed, and my 3-wood around 180mph, so colder, firmer conditions the golf ball is not compressing as much. So it's probably something along those lines.

"But felt like I was swinging it somewhat okay, just the ball wasn't coming off in that window that I normally see, so it was a weird day."

Despite grumbling about his clubs and golf balls, LIV Golf star DeChambeau admitted he came up short against a stern test of links golf on Thursday.

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"It's a completely different test," he said. "I didn't get any practice in it, and I didn't really play much in the rain. It's a difficult test out here. Something I'm not familiar with. I never grew up playing it, and not to say that that's the reason; I finished eighth at St Andrews [in 2022]."

DeChambeau said with a smile: "I can do it when it's warm and not windy," before adding: "Just the rub of the green. That's golf, my man. It's frustrating, but look, at the end of the day it's golf, and I get to go relax and enjoy watching others play in this rain. I'm going to go figure it out.

"I'm just proud of the way I persevered today. Shoot, man, I could have thrown in the towel after nine and could have been like, I'm going home. But no, I've got a chance tomorrow.

"I'm excited for the challenge. If I have some putts go in and hit some shots the way I know how to and figure out this equipment stuff, I'll be good."

DeChambeau was not the only big name to suffer in the wind and rain at Royal Troon. His rival at Pinehurst, Rory McIlroy, finished the day at seven-over-par and at serious of missing the cut.