Bryson DeChambeau has brought a full set of 3D-printed irons into competitive play for the first time this week, debuting the new clubs in his bag ahead of an Open Championship he cannot afford to miss.
According to Sky Sports Golf, DeChambeau confirmed he had printed a new set of irons specifically for Royal Birkdale, explaining that the build process takes roughly four days from design to finished clubhead. GolfWRX first spotted the irons in DeChambeau’s Open-themed Crushers bag during Monday’s practice session, with Golf Digest confirming the full set has since cleared the USGA’s conforming clubs list, the approval every piece of equipment needs before it can be used in professional competition.
Nick Faldo’s ‘Rough Slam’ Question Adds To The Pressure
DeChambeau arrives at Royal Birkdale having missed the cut at all three majors so far this year — the Masters, the PGA Championship and the US Open — and a fourth miss would complete an unwanted clean sweep unmatched in his career. He has experimented with 3D-printed clubheads before, playing a single printed 5-iron at Augusta, but this marks the first time he has carried a complete printed set into a major.
The move comes days after Nick Faldo’s rough slam warning branded DeChambeau’s approach to links golf as lacking strategy — criticism the American will hope his new equipment, rather than a change in course management, can help him answer on a firm, fast Birkdale layout.
Whether the clubs move the needle will become clear fast: DeChambeau tees off in Thursday’s marquee group alongside defending champion Scottie Scheffler and Tyrrell Hatton, one of the biggest storylines in the full field guide for the 154th Open.
