AUGUSTA, Ga. — Bryson DeChambeau spent the final hours before his 2026 Masters tilt eating crow on the comment that has shadowed him at Augusta National for almost six years.
Asked at the tournament's pre-Masters press conference about his 2020 declaration that he intended to play Augusta as a "par 67," the LIV Golf captain went out of his way to retire the line.
"I have a level of respect for this golf course that's a little bit different than a couple years ago," DeChambeau said. "Regarding the 67 comment, you know, you mess up. I'm not a perfect person. Everybody messes up. You learn from your mistake, and that was definitely one."
The mea culpa landed days before a Masters in which DeChambeau is one of the betting favourites, having recorded consecutive top-10 finishes at Augusta in 2024 and 2025. The two-time U.S. Open champion has spent the past two years rebuilding his Augusta strategy, dropping the brute-force template that powered the original "par 67" claim in favour of a more conservative, patient game plan.
He insisted the lessons of his recent Masters near-misses are pointing him toward a breakthrough.
"I just love coming back to Augusta every single year, and I really believe that I'm going to get it done there one of these days," DeChambeau said. "It's just a matter of time and continued hard work and learning from my failures."
"I've got a full bag of wedges I've been trying this week," DeChambeau said. "Different grinds, different weights, different shafts, different lengths, everything. The last key for me is wedges. Hopefully, I find what works and it continues to stick."
That continuing pursuit of consistency, he argued, is what separates his recent Masters fifth- and sixth-place finishes from a green jacket. The number he gave was specific.
"If I'm five percent more consistent, I have a better chance than what I did last year at the Masters," DeChambeau said.
He has framed his year as a rolling laboratory, with the equipment work running in parallel to extensive practice on the course itself.
"I've been putting in the work. I've been grinding. I've been testing. And I feel like I'm close. I feel like I'm right there."
The press conference followed a turbulent equipment month for DeChambeau. He recently split with longtime equipment partner LA Golf, whose CEO Reed Dickens told industry media that DeChambeau's demand for one-of-one builds was "not scalable" for a small company. DeChambeau, asked whether the disruption had unsettled his Masters preparation, was firm.
"I'm not worried about the equipment. I know what works for me. I know what I need, and I've got a team that's helping me get there."
He also reiterated that his methodical, science-led approach — long a target of critics — is non-negotiable.
"I've always been different. I've always done things differently, and that's why I've been successful. I'm not going to change."
"I took that last Masters as an opportunity to learn how to become a better iron player and a better wedger," he said. "I feel like most of it was there, just a couple fine-tuning moments and continue to ball strike it the way I have, and hopefully I give myself a good chance."
Augusta has, until very recently, been the one major venue that has consistently exposed the limits of DeChambeau's power-first identity. The repositioning of his Masters mindset — captured in the press conference answers — suggests a player who has finally accepted the course's terms rather than trying to dictate his own.
Whether the apology and the wedge audit translate into a green jacket is the next question. DeChambeau, on the eve of Masters Week, framed it less as a goal than as a working hypothesis.
"I really believe that I'm going to get it done there one of these days."