Bryson DeChambeau and AI chatbots are made for each another

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The following is an excerpt from Postmedia’s Monday Morning Golf presented by Callaway. Click here to have the newsletter delivered directly to your inbox every Monday.

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Bryson DeChambeau turning to artificial intelligence to figure out his golf swing is somehow both the strangest and most obvious story of the week.

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“I was talking to AI quite a bit last night trying to go through some different physics principles that makes the club turn over, having some alpha torque and gamma torque put in there,” DeChambeau said after shooting a final round 65 at LIV Golf Korea on the weekend. “I was like, ‘what makes that possibly do that,’ and was talking about just grip pressure and tension.”

DeChambeau’s AI brand of choice was Gemini, which just so happens to be produced by a major sponsor of his, Google.

Trying to decipher what is genuine with Bryson is a fool’s errand. Is he quirky and analytical enough to turn to an AI chatbot in the middle of a tournament? Definitely. Is he an unabashed and weirdly devoted pitchman for everything he is tied to? Also definitely.

What are some downsides of AI chatbots?

One thing about all these popular chatbots is they have a certain knack for making you feel smart in some sort of positivity loop that invites endless conversation.

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For example, long after my wife had started to ignore everything I said or asked about the proper watering and placement advice for our new rubber plant (which I know absolutely nothing about) my AI buddy was still gushing about the quality of my queries and extolling the virtues of my spot-on instincts.

In fact, apparently everything I had done so far was not only reasonable but super smart. A lot of people would have overwatered by now I was told. But not me. I must have a green thumb. I am truly special. Or so my new buddy said.

It’s not hard to picture Bryson sitting in a hotel room basking in Gemini’s compliments while the two of them hash out the proper way to naturally release the golf club.

The only problem is that when some leaves on my rubber plant started falling last week, my little AI buddy refused to admit that either of us ever did anything wrong and just as confidently and positively offered contradictory advice. With AI, you are always on the right track and the answer is just around the corner. Music to every golfer’s ears.

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The thing is, DeChambeau literally has access to the the greatest living coaches and players. He probably could have called Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods.

But Bryson has been his own closed loop since he came on tour a decade ago thinking he had all the answers and, much like AI, moving past his mistakes with an amazing lack of self-reflection.

Credit to him because he has reached incredible heights listening only to himself — and now AI — but in the end it might be what puts a ceiling on his greatness.

AI chatbots are great for people who love hearing themselves talk, so Bryson and his new coach sound like a perfect match.

CHIP SHOTS

A good week at Colonial for Mackenzie Hughes, finishing T10 at nine-under par, and hopefully there will be more to come because the 35-year-old could really use a hot stretch. The Canadian is now 116th in the FedEx Cup standings and needs to get inside the Top 100 by season’s end to retain his fully exempt PGA Tour status. Hughes told me last year that he wasn’t a fan of the switch from top-125 to top-100 as the PGA Tour cut-off, saying it makes what already seemed like a very tough job even tougher … And he’s not wrong. For every new face and young talent that makes a splash on tour, somebody is getting bumped off the other end. There were 17 first-time winners on tour in 2025 … This current generation of Canadians could be about to feel that pressure as they head into their late 30s. Adam Hadwin already has found himself demoted to the Korn Ferry Tour. Taylor Pendrith is 95th in the standings. Hughes is battling. The next few years will be interesting … Speaking of late-30-somethings, congrats to Russell Henley for notching his first win in over a year and the sixth of his career … The crazy stat that stood out to me was on Saturday when Henley made a double bogey and the broadcast said that it was his first double in 349 holes. A day later, Eric Cole ended a 316-hole streak of not making a double or worse. Both of those numbers are hard for any mortal golfer to fathom. Even crazier though is when I tried to find the all-time record for most holes without a double or worse, the closest I could find was Jordan Spieth’s streak of 412 holes. Jordan Spieth? How? What? Really?! … A number of golfers I’ve played with this year have asked me what’s wrong with Scottie Scheffler this year. That question is actually a testament to his greatness since he currently sits in first place in the season-long FedEx Cup standings.

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