Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau has withdrawn from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, saying he did not want to risk further injury to his hand and hip because he wasn’t completely ready to defend his title at Bay Hill.
Hip and hand injuries have forced DeChambeau to withdraw from multiple events in 2022 and he has not completed 72 holes since the Sentry Tournament of Champions in the first week of January.
He last competed on the PGA TOUR at the Farmers Insurance Open, missing the cut while visibly in pain before withdrawing from the Saudi International after just one round.
“I’ve been working hard on my game and working hard on my recovery,” DeChambeau said in a video posted to social media. “Man, tough decision right now. I have a lot of work to do to get everything back into order for this week. I just feel like it’s too short a time for me to get back to … playing at 100% capacity. Right now, I’m like 90%. I don’t want to go out there and hurt myself even more and not be 100% ready for the rest of the season. I don’t want to come back early and then have to take more time off, so it’s a hard decision I have to make right now.
An update on API. pic.twitter.com/fX0OgY7xF4
— Bryson DeChambeau (@b_dechambeau) February 28, 2022
“I want to thank the Palmer family and all they’ve done. They’ve been a tremendous support to me in my professional golf career. At this current point and time, I have to take another week off and I’m going to try and get back to play for THE PLAYERS. As of right now, I just can’t risk it, going out there and having it re-aggravate. … This has been one of the hardest moments in my life … because I’m not able to do much. Although I can hit some golf balls, it’s not comfortable. It’s not fully comfortable.”
The PGA Tour season is now 40% complete and DeChambeau has just two starts to his name and one made cut. He’s No. 196 in the FedEx Cup, just behind Phil at No. 187 and Dustin Johsnon at No. 189.
