"I don't know where he stands on the matter" – Jon Rahm gives his take as Bryson DeChambeau fails to enter the Olympics team
Jon Rahm spoke out on Bryson DeChambeau failing to make USA's team for the upcoming Paris Olympics. DeChambeau recently won the US Open in Pinehurst, North Carolina but this wasn't enough for him to meet the criteria for his nation's Olympic team.
The top 15 players in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) are eligible to compete in the games. However, each country is limited to a maximum of four players within the top 15 that can qualify. The four players from the United States are Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa.
Bryson DeChambeau is currently ranked 10th in the OWGR rankings but LIV Golf players don't receive OWGR points. Hence, he misses out on the Olympics.
In the pre-tournament press conference before LIV Golf Nashville, Jon Rahm was asked if he was frustrated with Bryson DeChambeau not making the cut for the Paris Olympics. Jon Rahm said (via Ten Golf):
"I don't know if I can be frustrated for Bryson. I don't know where he stands on the matter. I think it's more of a question for the Americans in the room, like would you want to have somebody like Bryson on the team right now or not. To my case as a competitor that week? No. But it doesn't mean that the next guy isn't going to be as good as Bryson."
Bryson DeChambeau ‘disappointed’ to miss the Olympics
Bryson DeChambeau won the US Open last weekend and jumped 28 spots on the Official World Golf Ranking points. The 30-year-old broke into the rankings’ top 10 for the first time since leaving the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. Despite this, the ace golfer was left out of the US golf team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
DeChambeau was clearly frustrated with the decision. The golfer, dubbed ‘best in the world’ by several fans, expressed his ‘disappointment’ for not being able to travel to France. Speaking on Wednesday, during his pre-tournament press conference at LIV Golf Nashville, the golfer said that he’s ‘done his best’ but things don’t necessarily play out according to plan.
Bryson DeChambeau said, as quoted by Golfweek:
“It’s disappointing, but I understand the decisions I made, and the way things have played out has not been necessarily perfectly according to plan. I’ve done my best up until now to give myself a chance according to the OWGR, but I realize and respect where the current situation of the game is, albeit it’s frustrating and disappointing.”
It is pertinent to note that DeChambeau had little to no chance of making the US Olympic team before the US Open win. The golfer was way down in the pecking order which picks only the top four Americans in the OWGR. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark made the team traveling to Paris.