Bryson DeChambeau Once Considered Quitting Golf, Says It Felt Like 'Torture'

Bryson DeChambeau, one of the most popular golfers in the world, said in an interview with Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post on Wednesday that he once considered quitting the sport.

"There was a point in time—I'm not kidding—where I just felt like I wanted to leave the game," DeChambeau said. "I just felt like, 'I don't need any of this. Why? Why put myself through all this torture?'"

It's not hard to see why DeChambeau wanted to call it quits as he has been heavily criticized over the last year or so.

DeChambeau's rivalry with Brooks Koepka has escalated and been a focus of both the media and fans, and his caddie, Tim Tucker, parted ways with him before the first round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit. 

In addition, the 28-year-old criticized his Cobra equipment after the first round of the British Open, slammed a rules official at the 2020 Memorial and received criticism after failing to get vaccinated and missing the Olympics because of a positive COVID-19 test. 

"I got hit pretty hard," DeChambeau explained. "That's why I kind of walked away, because people were damaging [my] character. It was all the stuff that was going on in social media. I was like, 'I really don't need this. I can walk away and be totally fine the rest of my life, be happy and go and hit the long ball and call it a day.'"

While DeChambeau fell to Koepka in Capital One's The Match in November, he has eight PGA Tour wins, a U.S. Open championship and has won almost $26 million in his career. And after nearly quitting golf, it appears he's more motivated than ever.

"I want to win Augusta, all the majors, have the career Grand Slam and continue to win events," DeChambeau said. "I've won Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus' event, and that's pretty cool. I want to eventually win [Tiger Woods' Genesis Invitational], and have all three of those. That'd be cool."

DeChambeau, who's ranked seventh in the world, is currently competing in the Hero World Challenge at the Albany Golf Club from Dec. 2-5.