No Surprise Here
The reigning U.S. Amateur and NCAA Champion, Bryson DeChambeau, has announced he is leaving the now penalized SMU golf team to focus on The Masters. Over the summer, DeChambeau became only the fifth player to win both titles in the same year.
“To best prepare myself for the next six months of competition and future events, I felt it was appropriate to make this decision now to be fair to my coaches and team.”
He released the statement to Golf Channel, but made no mention of sanctions placed on SMU by the NCAA.
DeChambeau was set to defend his title as a senior at SMU and complete his physics degree. However, the NCAA discovered multiple recruiting violations and unethical conduct on the part of former coach Josh Gregory.
As a result, the SMU golf team and current coach Jason Enloe are banned from the 2015-2016 postseason. The penalties would have prevented DeChambeau from competing on an individual basis also, eliminating his chance to defend his title. Additionally, the school received a 25% reduction in available scholarships for three years as part of the punishment. SMU is appealing the NCAA’s decision.
Winning the U.S. Amateur provided exemptions into 2016’s first three majors: The Masters, U.S. Open, and the Open Championship. If DeChambeau were to turn pro before The Masters, he would forfeit the exemptions.
Golf Channel reports he will play two tournaments in November, the Argentina Open and the Australian Open. The expectation is DeChambeau will turn pro after The Masters and try to secure sponsor’s exemptions into more tournaments over the remainder of the year. The PGA Tour allows up to seven sponsor exemptions per season for non-Tour members.
DeChambeau plans to finish his degree in physics sometime in the future.
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