Almost everyone who knows Bryson DeChambeau knows he studied physics at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. Despite choosing golf as a career, he hasn’t wasted those years, treating the sport almost like a laboratory experiment. He is known for using single-length iron shafts, unique vector-based putting calculations, and a high-speed, single-plane swing. But that’s not the end.

Bryson DeChambeau also has an unusual practice routine where he intentionally hits balls from bizarre, imperfect lies to train his focus. All of this has contributed to his quirky, eccentric, and unconventional personality. However, the reality is that this doesn’t even scratch the surface. While appearing in an interview with Sky Sports, DeChambeau’s SMU teammate Austin Smotherman revealed his bizarre college rituals. 

“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Smotherman said when asked whether ‘The Scientist’ was as quirky as he is known today. “I got the front-row seat ever since junior golf together. [He] and I [have] played golf since we were about 12. I remember a junior event—he was changing weights on a putting green and trying to match it to the green speeds, and we [were] like 13 years old. It just stuff beyond necessary in my mind at that age, but it worked for him.

“We [ended] up being college teammates freshman year. We [got] out there to SMU together and… [for] three years we were teammates that roomed every week on the road together.”

DeChambeau played collegiate golf for the SMU Mustangs in Dallas, Texas. He enjoyed a remarkable 2015 season, winning the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Individual Championship, becoming SMU’s first individual national champion. And he also won the U.S. Amateur title. However, he left the team in October 2015, after the NCAA imposed a postseason ban on SMU, preventing him from defending his national title. 

DeChambeau subsequently prepared for the 2016 Masters before turning professional later that year. Despite turning pro, however, Smotherman claims DeChambeau’s antics from college haven’t changed. Bryson DeChambeau is known to use an Epsom salt and water solution to test his golf balls for internal weight imbalances caused by manufacturing imperfections. This, Smotherman says, isn’t something new. 

“You know how he balances his balls and his Epsom salt and does all that kind of special stuff. We’d be in hotel rooms, and he’d be trying to get the coach to go pick up some Epsom salt so he can do them in just the ice bucket of the hotel room,” Smotherman revealed. “He’d fill it up with water, Epsom salt, and all of his old balls—he’d discard them. And those would become my practice balls cuz I thought they were still pretty good.”

The reason this is unusual is that not many, if any, players use the technique anymore. Modern solid-core golf balls are made using high-precision molding and X-ray inspections. Major manufacturers spend millions to ensure internal weight distribution is nearly identical across every ball. However, Bryson isn’t the only one to use the technique. Gary McCord and Peter Kostis used to do this during their playing careers in the 1970s and 1980s.

In any case, while Austin Smotherman remembers his teammate fondly, not everyone in the community is his biggest fan.

Brooks Koepka rips into Bryson DeChambeau

Brooks Koepka took a swipe at his former rival Bryson DeChambeau last month, delivering a rather brutal assessment of the LIV Golf star during a conversation with Dan Rapaport. The two-time major champion was discussing DeChambeau’s ongoing feud with Rory McIlroy when he couldn’t resist taking a dig at his old adversary.

His dig stemmed from McIlroy and DeChambeau’s interactions during the final pairing at the 2025 Masters. Following his victory at Augusta National, McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam, but DeChambeau later revealed that the Northern Irishman had barely spoken to him throughout the final round. 

“No idea. [McIlroy] Didn’t talk to me once all day,” DeChambeau had said.

McIlroy, however, wasn’t particularly impressed with the complaint and responded at the PGA Championship a month later. 

“I don’t know what he was expecting,” he said. “We’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not going to try to be his best mate out there.”

When Rapaport brought up the disagreement during his range-side conversation with Koepka, the latter delivered a sharp assessment of DeChambeau. 

“I don’t think many people want to talk to him regardless,” Koepka remarked.

The comment put the spotlight on Koepka and DeChambeau’s strained relationship, which dates back to their very public clashes in 2020 and 2021. 

That said, it appears that while some people view the SMU grad as a unique and quirky hard worker, others can’t seem to stand him.