Bryson DeChambeau is out of his cast and had the stitches removed from his left hand, another step in the right direction in the healing process from left wrist surgery.
“Hand is feeling better day by day,” he wrote on social media on Friday. “Excited to be able to hit golf balls again when the time is right.”
On April 14, DeChambeau underwent surgery on his fractured hamate bone at the Kettering Medical Center in Ohio. Hand surgeon Thomas Graham performed the surgery.
DeChambeau will miss the PGA Championship and possibly the U.S. Open. In announcing the surgery, he said he hoped to return in two months.
Healing up! Gripped a club today. Can’t hold on to it for long, but getting there! pic.twitter.com/oS06NTjGxw
— Bryson DeChambeau (@b_dechambeau) April 30, 2022
DeChambeau has been dealing with multiple injuries – the other being a torn left hip labrum that began bothering him two years ago when he slipped on concrete while doing speed training. He said at the Masters that he re-aggravated the injury at the Farmers Insurance Open.
His hand began bothering him in November ahead of his exhibition match with Brooks Koepka.
“There was something on my hand that just kind of like popped, and was I like, ‘Ah, that’s not normal.’ That didn’t feel really good at all either. It was tough hitting balls. I just stopped. The next day I came out, and I was fine. I was hitting golf balls, and it was like nothing happened. But that’s the day where I felt something happen in my left hand, and it got progressively worse,” he explained at the Masters.
DeChambeau reaggravated the injury at the Saudi International, an event played this year on the Asian Tour, while playing ping-pong with Sergio Garcia and Joaquin Niemann.
“We were on some marble floors, and they just wiped it. And me not paying attention, I Charlie Brown’d myself and went horizontal and then hit my left hip and my hand at the same time, and that really just took me out,” he explained. “That’s really when it just got to the point where I couldn’t even grip the golf club. I tried to play that week, and it was impossible. I was not even gripping with my left hand that week. I was like, this is dumb, I have to go take care of my body first and get it right.”
DeChambeau withdrew in Saudi Arabia and sat out until the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in March. He was bounced from pool play at the WGC Match Play and missed the cut at the Valero Texas Open, spraying the ball off the tee. But he tried to play the Masters to no avail, shooting to miss the cut.
Today, I underwent successful left wrist surgery on my fractured hook of the hamate. The surgery was performed by world renowned Hand Surgeon Dr. Thomas Graham. I want to thank Dr. Graham and the incredible staff and The Kettering Medical Center in Ohio. pic.twitter.com/SoS9HVh7Wo
— Bryson DeChambeau (@b_dechambeau) April 14, 2022
“This only comes around once a year, and I’ve got to give this a go,” DeChambeau said beforehand.
It was worth a try, but in reality, DeChambeau should have undergone surgery months earlier. He was fooling himself if he thought the pain was going to just go away.
“It has caused me to alter my grip and swing, resulting in my inability to compete at golf’s highest level,” he admitted. “This has not been easy physically and mentally for me.”
The 28-year-old DeChambeau, who won the 2020 U.S. Open, found a way to keep swinging despite his injury. While hosting a charity golf fundraiser in the Bahamas on April 26, he posted a video of himself hitting a tee shot with just his right hand. Now that the stitches are out, DeChambeau said he’s begun gripping the club. The question remains: will he take the time to fully heal or try to rush back to compete in the U.S. Open?
