All the up and downs in Bryson DeChambeau’s wild year

It would be tough to top the kind of drama that Bryson DeChambeau found himself part of in 2021. He won just once on the PGA Tour, but the man who transformed his body in less than two years to become the tour’s longest driver certainly was a major topic of discussion throughout an eventful golf season — even when he was not contending.

Winner of the 2020 U.S. Open, DeChambeau added the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March for his eighth PGA Tour victory.

And yet despite some strong play at times, he did not win again, posting a total of six top-10 finishes in 20 worldwide events. He is now ranked seventh in the world.

DeChambeau has not played an official event since the Tour Championship in early September. He then played the Ryder Cup followed by the Professional Long Drivers Association event.

For all we know, he’s packed on more power and muscle after a year that saw him become the subject of controversy and a monthslong feud with Brooks Koepka that leads to Friday’s festivities in Las Vegas.

Now he is set to join nemesis Koepka in a made-for-TV 12-hole grudge encounter called “The Match.” It is the fifth such version of the series that began with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in 2018. It will be DeChambeau’s second appearance.

It is fair to wonder whether the two have really settled their differences to the point that now the archenemies are actually good enough with each other to ham it up for a few hours on national TV for a payday.

Does that make their monthslong “feud” seem more contrived now that they seemingly had a truce at the Ryder Cup and are taking part in this Thanksgiving weekend outing? Or does bad blood remain?

We will get some of those answers during the competition, but for now it seems prudent to look back on the good and bad of an incredibly busy year for DeChambeau.

Good Bryson

1. Bay Hill

DeChambeau made it his mission to hit a tee shot across a lake on the par-5 sixth hole at the Bay Hill Club, site of the Arnold…