DeChambeau didn’t dare dream about it until he returned to the Olympics in golf.

Bryson DeChambeau grew up watching the Olympics and hoped to take part one day.

As a golfer, he knew it was a bit of a stretch.

The sport was part of the Olympic program in the early 20th century, but it was discontinued from 1904 to 2016 until it returned to Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“Before 2016, of course, I had no idea I was going to the Olympics,” he said this week after setting up the field for the Tokyo Games. “I never thought about it. Playing as in recent years has given me a chance.”

A year after the 2016 Amateur Days, 27-year-old DeChambeau didn’t win one of four places in the United States at the Olympic Arena. He is currently the sixth largest golfer in the world, and is one of four Americans selected for the 60-man course to play at Kasumigaseki Country Club on the outskirts of Tokyo from July 30 to August. 8.8.

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Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele also represent the United States. Dustin Johnson, the world’s second-largest, has refused.

DeChambeau said he loves Olympic table tennis as a child and remembers seeing Michael Phelps dominate swimming in Athens and Beijing. Best of all, he wanted to get to the Olympic Stadium one day at the opening.

“When I forgot about it in Rio in 2016, I was like,‘ Man, that’s my goal, I want to check the list. “I want to be an Olympic athlete on an American team,” he said. “And I’m very lucky to say I’m an Olympic athlete now.”

DeChambeau said Rickie Fowler, who played in Rio, was “the coolest experience ever.”

He didn’t have to convince.

“So far, I’m definitely going,” he said, admitting that the game has already been postponed for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Japan is partially blocked. “Obviously, if something goes wrong, not all of us will go.”

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DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open champion, led this year’s tournament with nine holes before joining the nine behind Torrey Pines. I made continuous bogies for the 11th and 12th holes, tripled to the 13th hole and quadrupled the 17th hole bogie.

He finished the final round with six over 77.9 hits in front of winner Jon Rahm.

This week, he will be taken to the TPC River Highlands on the outskirts of Hartford in Connecticut for the Travelers Championship. Five of the world’s top 10 players, including Johnson, Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka, are on the field.

DeChambeau has played in the tournament five times and has not lost a drop in the last three years and is ranked in the top ten.

“It fits my game pretty well. I hope I can fix the driver a bit more, but I’m still struggling. Miss hits are a little too wild. And I want to change that this week. That’s it, ”he said. “If we can do it, I think we have a good chance of fighting.”

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DeChambeau also said he was eager to return to the fans after playing last year’s tournament on an empty field. If it arouses a heckler trying to arouse an argument with Koepka, it’s also great.

“It’s just something that rolls off my back,” he said. “People think it bothers me. It is not. Not at all. It’s just a retrofit for me. I heard it and it even signed up in my head. So people can say it if they want to. No problem. That’s pretty interesting. “

And is it good for golf?

“It has some positive aspects,” he said. “Now, if you start saying it during some golf swing, it’s different. But what’s on the fairway? No harm or evil.”

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