We learned that on Wednesday as one of the team’s vice captains, Kevin Kisner, told a hilarious tale on the latest episode of Barstool’s Fore Play podcast. As Kisner revealed, captain Keegan Bradley set up a group chat once the American team was set. But one player, Bryson DeChambeau, didn’t have an iPhone, which made sharing certain things with him difficult. (Isn’t there always that one person on the chat with a different phone?)

To Bryson’s credit, he went out and got a new team-friendly phone, but that led to the next problem. Somehow, he managed to give Bradley the wrong number, and, well, take it away, Kiz!

Kiz tells an unbelievable story about a RANDOM PERSON getting in the Ryder Cup group chat because Bryson didn’t have an iPhone pic.twitter.com/AWerKAyphU

— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) May 7, 2026

“So some random person in America is getting all these comments from the Ryder Cup team,” Kisner says in the clip. “So that was a hilarious start to our Ryder Cup.”

Hilarious, indeed. Although, you know who’s also laughing? That well-oiled machine known as Team Europe.

“I think the guy, if I remember correctly, like, ‘Hey, I don’t know what any of this is, but good luck to y’all,'” Kisner continues with the tale. “I think somebody even commented back, ‘Whatever, Bryson, funny joke.’ And then the guy was like, ‘No, seriously, I don’t know who these people are.”

Let’s hope Team USA gets this straightened out before next year’s Ryder Cup in Ireland. Captain Jim Furyk already has his first task.

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In a weekend interview with The Guardian, Rory McIlroy quipped that DeChambeau only mentions himself and Scottie Scheffler when he wants attention. It was a shot across the bow from the European Ryder Cup star. A few hours later, Brandel Chamblee took dead aim.

During a Monday evening monologue on ‘Live From,’ golf’s hot take grandmaster likened DeChambeau to a “circus barker,” questioned the authenticity of his YouTube views and branded him a “captain’s nightmare.”

Needless to say, Bryson stock was at a low ebb on Tuesday morning, but his U.S. teammates quickly stepped in to help. During their opening press conferences at Bethpage Black, members of the U.S. squad were asked about DeChambeau, and each came to his defence, debunking the theory that DeChambeau is anything but a great competitor to have in the team room. Here’s what they said:

Russell Henley: “I’ve just really enjoyed Bryson … After Greensboro in 2021 maybe, I was leading the tournament, and I choked it away,” Henley said when asked about his embattled teammate. Two weeks after, I saw him in Baltimore at Caves Valley, and he walked up and said—he goes, hey, man, keep your head up, that happens to everybody, you’re playing some great golf, and just encouraged me. I’ll always remember that.”

Xander Schauffele: “I was telling Keegan, I feel like Bryson could be like the difference for us in a strange way from the standpoint of feeding into these fans, the style of golf he plays. And also how—like you’ll get me, I’ll make a putt, and you won’t see too much of a reaction. But Bryson is like, this is his arena. If he views himself as a gladiator golfer, this is as good as it gets.

He’s been awesome. He’s been awesome in the team room. I’m excited to sort of see what he can do, and hopefully get a lot of points up on the board because his points might hit harder than maybe my points, for example, just because of how he might celebrate and get these fans into this tournament quickly.”

Andreas Solaro

J.J. Spaun: “I think what people don’t realise, he’s made a huge effort being a part of this team, flying to team dinners, showing up weeks that he’s playing on the LIV to where we are on the PGA TOUR just to be a part of that team, and he’s done a great job. He’s got his own thing going on, and it’s easy for us to get together because we’re all playing week in and week out together.

“I think he’s done a huge job of trying to insert himself on this team. Given his personality and his brand, he’s great with the fans. I think that’s going to be a huge attribute to the team this week.”

Scottie Scheffler: “I mean, I think Bryson is a tremendous competitor. He’s a great partner as well. I partnered with him in 2021 at Whistling Straits and he was a tremendous guy to be out to be golf course with. He’s a great guy and a good friend and he’s been great in our team room.

“Like I said, he brings a lot of energy, the people love him, and I think he loves the opportunity to be able to represent his country. He’s a multiple-time U.S. Open winner, and that means a lot to him. Being an American I think means a lot to him as well. I’m excited to kind of unleash him this week.”

Scottie Scheffler – Keyur Khamar

U.S. Captain Keegan Bradley: “Yeah, I think Bryson, this is a tough thing for him, to come into guys that he doesn’t see every day, full of PGA TOUR players, but he’s done an exceptional job of making the extra effort, flying to Napa, flying to Atlanta, doing things that are really difficult with the schedule that he has. He’s made every effort possible and been incredible in the team room.

“I think Bryson, just his golfing ability alone, is an X-factor for our team, but also, he’s a really fiery player. When you come to a Ryder Cup, you don’t want guys to try to be something they’re not. We have a lot of calm, mellow guys, so we need the energy from Bryson, and he brings that every day in practice rounds, in the team room, and hopefully in the tournament competition too.”

If there were any questions about DeChambeau’s fit and function within the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup setup, this should put those to bed until further notice. Obviously, DeChambeau’s teammates aren’t going to come out and agree with Chamblee and McIlroy 72 hours before Friday foursomes begin, but they didn’t have to speak as long, or as thoughtfully, about him as they did. Scheffler even called him a “great guy and good friend. Let’s be honest, we don’t hear the F-word used very often in professional golf these days.

Schauffele’s response was also telling. If Schauffele is yin, then DeChambeau is yang. It’s hard to imagine two more different personalities on and off the golf course, but Schauffele recognises the Ryder Cup isn’t the RBC Heritage. It’s not just a different ballgame, it’s practically a different sport. You might even say it’s a circus, and who better to run the show than the “circus barker” himself?

In the end, these quotes won’t change the minds of Chamblee, McIlroy or the countless fans on either side of the pond who find DeChambeau’s schtick a bit tiresome. He’s a lightning rod. Every sport has them. Every sport needs them. But if he can bring a little electricity to a U.S. team that looked deader than an old Duracell in Rome, then the haters will quiet down … for a little while at least.

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Spoiler alert: Scottie Scheffler qualified for the United States Ryder Cup team.

OK, technically Scheffler—who won this week’s BMW Championship— locked up his spot some time ago. Entering the final week of automatic qualification at the BMW Championship, U.S. Open champ J.J. Spaun and two-time major winner Xander Schauffele had also secured their places on the American roster for next month’s match at Bethpage Black. However, three more names on Sunday were added to the list, with Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau rounding out the top six qualifiers.

There was no movement among the top six during the week. Justin Thomas was the first man out of the auto spot.

Henley, who competed for the Americans at last year’s Presidents Cup, has been remarkably consistent in 2025, posting nine top-10 finishes on the year highlighted by capturing the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Henley ranks fifth in strokes gained and seventh in tee-to-green. This will be his first Ryder Cup appearance.

English will be making his second outing for the United States after playing in the 2021 match. English won the Farmers Insurance Open in January yet has been playing exceptional golf over the second half of the season, finishing second at both the PGA Championship and Open Championship. He also turned in a T-4 at the Travelers the week after the U.S. Open.

Rounding out the club is DeChambeau. Despite limited qualification opportunities, DeChambeau made his mark at the majors over the past two years, winning at Pinehurst last summer to go along with two consecutive runner-ups at the PGA Championship. He added top 10s at the last two Masters as well as this summer’s Open Championship. This will be DeChambeau’s third U.S. Ryder Cup start.

United States captain Keegan Bradley will finalise the other six spots following next week’s Tour Championship. Among those expected to be picked are Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Ben Griffin. Others contending for wild card picks are Maverick McNealy, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns, Cam Young and Bradley himself.

Europe’s automatic qualification period ends Aug. 24 (a week later than Team USA), coinciding with the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship and the DP World Tour’s Betfred British Masters. European captain Luke Donald will complete his roster with his six captain’s picks on Sept. 1.

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On Thursday, just as things were heating up (literally) at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, DeChambeau was in the lab cooking up something special for the first tee at next month’s USA-vs.-Europe showdown. Like always, DeChambeau runs the risk of doing too much and ruffling a few feathers, but sweet fancy Moses would this be a sight to see. Behold.

Yep, that’s exactly what it looks like. As the filmer says, we’re not sure about that scream either (head over to Bryson’s Instagram story to watch with sound), but a Happy Gilmore swing on the first tee of the Ryder Cup might go down as the greatest American moment since the Boston Tea Party.

Of course, few are better qualified than DeChambeau to pull it off. Not only does he remain one of the most intimidating drivers of the golf ball on the planet, but the LIV pro also had a hilarious cameo in this summer’s record-breaking ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ and recently shared the course with Adam Sandler for an episode of his YouTube series, ‘Break 50.’ Safe to say, he’s learned from the best.

Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but we doubt DeChambeau has the stones to actually try this at Bethpage Black. If he gets the green light from captain Keegan and pipes one down the middle of the fairway, however, they might as well go ahead and hand the trophy to U.S. right then and there.

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But he also vows to make plenty of noise himself. In particular, at one potential opponent.

The LIV Golf star was at the NYC premiere of “Happy Gilmore 2” earlier this week when he spoke to People Magazine about the possibility of having another showdown with Rory McIlroy, this time at the Ryder Cup.

“I’ll be chirping in his ear this time,” DeChambeau told People. “Now, if we go up against each other, I mean, you can be sure of it.”

Of course, this was in reference to DeChambeau’s disappointment in receiving the silent treatment from McIlroy during Masters Sunday. As McIlroy—and mental coach Bob Rotella—pointed out after, this was nothing personal to Bryson. Rory was just locked in on winning a long-awaited first green jacket. And it worked as McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam and avenged a heartbreaking loss to Bryson at last year’s U.S. Open.

But now Bryson is planning to tilt the talking back in his favour to try to get an edge on the five-time major champ. According to People, a laughing DeChambeau added, “I’ll get into his ear a little bit.”

As if a Ryder Cup—in New York, no less—needed any more spice. Now that 2025’s men’s major season is over, late September can’t get here soon enough for golf fans.

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Bryson DeChambeau said he hopes to bring a "tsunami" of a crowd to Bethpage to cheer on Team USA at the Ryder Cup.

He also shared that Keegan Bradley left a message in players' lockers.

"This year is no joke… We're tired of losing." pic.twitter.com/5pOXpfwQjk

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) July 20, 2025

Bryson DeChambeau's performance at Portrush will surely lock up his spot on this year's U.S. Ryder Cup team.

"I hope I can bring a lot of energy and a tsunami of a crowd that's going to be rooting for Team USA."

Added captain Keegan Bradley put personalized messages in each… pic.twitter.com/9owW7yIwNn

— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) July 20, 2025

“Tsunami of noise.” Folks, this guy is cooking. DeChambeau walked off the course after seven birdies and no bogeys on Sunday, and a bunch of reporters with English accents shoved microphones in his face. He could have lied and said a bunch of boring stuff about how he’s looking forward to finishing the LIV season strong and hopefully making the Ryder Cup team. Instead, he was like yeah, we all know I’m already in the starting lineup.

In patented Bryson fashion, the quotes toe the line between genuinely inspiring and unbearably cringe. The whole “we’re tired of losing,” let’s-pretend-to-be-the-underdogs-so-we-can-hunt-not-be-hunted schtick is pretty transparent at this point. But that’s kind of the beauty of DeChambeau. For better and/or worse, he is transparent, and when he starts feeling himself and steers into that, it leads to fun WWE soundbites like this.

In addition to the cowboy bluster, DeChambeau also revealed that U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley left motivational messages in each potential player’s locker this week. He didn’t share what his said, but if Bryson keeps talking the talk and, more importantly, walking the walk like this, he may one day get to lead a Ryder Cup squad of his own.

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