Bryson DeChambeau “deeply regrets” equipment comments

Bryson DeChambeau has issued a grovelling apology to his equipment sponsor Cobra just hours after insisting that his driver “sucks”.

The world No.6 fired an astonishing broadside at his equipment after carding a one-over 71 in the first round of The Open at Royal St George’s.

“The driver sucks,” he groaned. “It’s not a good face for me, and we’re still trying to figure out how to make it good on the mishits. I’m living on the razor’s edge, like I’ve told people for a long time.”

That prompted an equally blunt response from Ben Schomin, Cobra’s head of tour operations and the man largely responsible for building DeChambeau’s clubs.

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Schomin, who caddied for the former US Open champion during the Rocket Mortgage Classic two weeks ago when he split long-time looper caddie Tim Tucker, told Golfweek that it’s “really, really painful when he says something that stupid” and compared him to “an 8-year-old that gets mad at you”.

In turn, DeChambeau took to social media to backtrack on his earlier comments.

“The comment I made in my post round interview today was very unprofessional,” he wrote. “My frustration and emotions over the way I drove the ball today boiled over. I sucked today, not my equipment. 

“Cobra and I have worked together for over five years and they are some of the hardest working people in [the] golf industry and make an incredible product. Their team is like family to me, especially Ben Schomin who has been there every step of the way since I started my career.

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“I deeply regret the words I used earlier. I am relentless in the pursuit of improvement and perfection. Part of that causes me to become outwardly frustrated at times. With the new speeds I am obtaining, my game is a constant work in progress and so is controlling my emotions.”

DeChambeau gets his second round underway at 2.26pm today in the company of Jordan Spieth and Branden Grace.