Bryson DeChambeau’s partnership with cult club manufacturer LA Golf was one of the most iconic in golf, with the U.S. Open winner’s love of tinkering with his clubs matching perfectly with the brand’s reputation for exacting quality and pushing the boundaries of performance out on the course.
Now, however, it seems that this most illustrious of ambassadorships – one that, as he grew to become one of the game’s biggest stars, saw Bryson help bring the brand to prominence by including their shafts as a key bedrock in his bag – has come to a rather unceremonious end.
News of the split was broken earlier today after much online speculation by Golf.com’s Michael Bamberger, who got confirmation both from DeChambeau’s inner camp and LA Golf founder Reed Dickens that the partnership between the two was no longer official.
“Bryson is no longer an ambassador for LA Golf. He remains a customer and still has the shafts in his bag,” said a statement from DeChambeau’s rep.
The reasons behind the split are somewhat murky, however it appears to stem from a disagreement surrounding DeChambeau’s stake in the overall business. The American reportedly owned a two percent stake in the brand but wished for more.
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“Bryson and I actually have some of the same tendencies, and I have nothing but respect for him,” Dickens told Bamberger in a lengthy interview.
“But he has this new consultant, a McKinsey-consulting type guy, and this guy says to me that Bryson is gonna walk unless he gets 51 percent.
“Bryson’s got two percent of the company. And I think the guy doesn’t realise that he’s dealing with a redneck. And I say, ‘There’s no path for that.’ They played chicken with me, and now we’re going to graciously part ways.”
Dickens also hinted that DeChambeau’s exacting needs as an equipment client clashed with the brand’s own plans to scale their direct-to-consumer business, which involved cutting a third of its staff earlier this year.
“He challenges everything you do, and he makes you test your every assumption,” Dickens said. “Bryson needs someone serving him 24 hours a day, he needs somebody to build him his own clubs, and that’s not scalable for us.”
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We’ll be sure to bring you more updates on this story as they arise, but for now you can check out the full details of Bryson’s WITB here.
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