It’s safe to say that nobody faced more pressure heading into the first round of the 2026 British Open than Bryson DeChambeau. The LIV Golf star has missed the cut all all three majors so far this year and desperately wants to avoid another Friday night trip to the airport this week in England. Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee went viral this week for ripping DeChambeau over his YouTube golf videos, and the legendary Nick Faldo went a step further by saying DeChambeau had “zero clue of strategy.”Well, the joke is on all the Bryson haters after the first round because he went out and had a stellar day at Royal Birkdale. DeChambeau did have a bit of a blip on the difficult par-4 18th as he finished with a bogey, but his three-under 67 has him one shot behind the leaders. 2026 British Open Predictions: Our Picks to Win and Surprise at Royal BirkdaleSo much for all that noise about DeChambeau not being serious about contending on the biggest stages of the sport or having what it takes mentally to play well on a links course. Well, at least for one day, anyways, because he knows just making a cut isn’t the goal. Winning a third major championship is, and he’s in a great spot to try to do that after his first round.Sadly, we don’t know how DeChambeau felt about his round because he didn’t speak to the media after walking off the 18th green. His play, however, did a lot of talking. What DeChambeau did well all day longDeChambeau only hit four fairways but he was still able to stay out of trouble and attack pins. He averaged 326 yards off the tee, with his longest drive being a 361-yard bomb on the second hole.But the most important thing he did throughout his round was hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation. If you’ve played golf, you know how much easier life can be when you do that. Bryson DeChambeau hits it close for birdie to go 3-under on his Open first round 📈🔥 pic.twitter.com/vzzgJex8ZU— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 16, 2026It all started on the first hole when he hit his approach to four feet and then made his birdie putt. He backed that up on the second hole by making a 17-footer for another birdie. And just like that he was two-under.After making seven straight pars to finish his front nine with a 32, he crushed a 341-yard drive on the 10th and then made another four-footer for birdie. He made a disappointing bogey on the par-5 14th but then had back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 before closing with his bogey on 18. Bryson DeChambeau goes T-1 at The Open with this fantastic uphill lag putt to set up birdie on 17 🤌 pic.twitter.com/kkOxcYRLBk— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 16, 2026All in all, this was a dream start for DeChambeau. If he struggled and finished with a score of anything over par, the pressure that is on his shoulders would only have intensified. The postgame shows would have been dominated by analysts saying he doesn’t have it anymore and that this is a lost year for a guy who has won two U.S. Open titles. Instead, he’s right in the mix heading into the second round. Nick Faldo laid into DeChambeau before the start of the British OpenFaldo is a legend in the game and knows what it takes to win the British Open, as he raised the Claret Jug three times in his career. He also won the Masters three times, so his words carry a lot of weight.Faldo didn’t hold back on his feelings about DeChambeau during an interview with Sky Sports earlier this week.“He has—I’d say it to his face—he has zero clue of strategy,” Faldo said. “I mean, he said it last year and then I think on TV, ‘I’m going to go out and attack the links.’ Well, I’ve never attacked a links. You thread it, don’t you? You feed it down the fairway, it’s really important.”“You don’t think, ‘I’ll just bomb it down there, can’t see where I’m going, it’s 20 yards wide.’ Oh yeah, good luck,” Faldo added. “You’ve got to think, ‘How do I get it on the short grass?’ It’s so important.”Sir Nick Faldo certainly not holding back ahead of The Open 😳 pic.twitter.com/xkPnyGaJuq— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 14, 2026DeChambeau seemed to have a great strategy on Thursday. He kept himself out of too much trouble, hit a bunch of approach shots close to the hole and made some putts. One of his best shots of the day came on the difficult par-3 15th when he hit a tough chip to a few feet and tapped in for par. He benefited from pretty benign conditions at Royal Birkdale, as the temperatures were up and the winds were down, but he stayed within himself and put on a ball-striking clinic for most of the day. Now the only question that remains is: Can DeChambeau do it again Friday? Because if he does, he’ll find himself in a rare spot as of late—playing important golf on the weekend at a major championship. If he doesn’t, the haters will be ready to pounce once again. More Golf from Sports IllustratedAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow