“Tough decision right now” – Bryson DeChambeau pulls out from Arnold Palmer Invitational due to hand injury

Defending Arnold Palmer Invitational champion Bryson DeChambeau won’t be seen trying to defend his title at Bay Hill Club & Lodge this week. The Californian golfer has opted out of the tournament because of a lingering left-hand injury.

DeChambeau, who won the 2021 event by 1 shot over England’s Lee Westwood for his eighth career PGA Tour victory, withdrew from the API on Monday. He is now set to be replaced by counterpart Scott Piercy in the field. The top golfer took to his social media and revealed that he was recovering from a bone bruise in his left hand.

“I’ve been hitting a lot of balls in the simulator, I’ve been working hard on my game and working hard on recovery,” DeChambeau said in a video posted to his Twitter account on Monday. “Man, it’s a tough decision right now. I have a lot of work to do to get everything back into order for this week, and I just feel that it’s too short of time for me to get back playing at 100 percent capacity.

“Don’t want to go out there and hurt myself”

Bryson mentioned that he’s currently achieved a 90 percent fitness level but doesn’t want to take any risk and hurt himself. 

DeChambeau explained: “Right now, I’m at like 90 per cent. I just don’t want to go out there and hurt myself even more and not be 100 per cent ready for the rest of the season. I don’t want to come back early and then have to take more time off.”

“As of right now, I just can’t risk going out there and have it re-aggravate,” he said. “It 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 fully comfortable. It’s been frustrating.”

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