Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau withdrew Monday from the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
DeChambeau hasn’t played in nearly a month, since he withdrew from the Saudi International citing injuries to his left hand and hip. He had planned to play at Bay Hill, in one of the game’s premier regular-season events, but after ramping up his activity over the weekend he decided that he wasn’t yet healthy enough to compete.
DeChambeau said that he is “90%” healthy but didn’t want to risk re-injury. He said he is hopeful to play next week at The Players.
“I just feel like it’s too short of time to get back to 100%, playing at 100% capacity right now,” he said on social media. “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 have to take more time off.”
Over the weekend, DeChambeau revealed on social media that he was dealing with a bone bruise in his left hand, an ailment that has affected him for the past few months. The issue became more pronounced in the run-up to the new year, with DeChambeau hitting hundreds (if not thousands) of balls while driver testing and continuing his speed training. He was also dealing with a hip injury that he said occurred when he slipped and fell in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
It remains to be seen whether DeChambeau will see enough improvement to commit to next week’s Players Championship, the PGA Tour’s flagship event. Last year, after a resounding win at Bay Hill, he followed it up with a tie for third at TPC Sawgrass.
Since then, DeChambeau has logged just three top-10s, his world ranking falling from fifth to 12th.
It’s been a turbulent stretch for DeChambeau off the course, as well. Two weeks ago, he announced that he would continue to play on the PGA Tour after being one of the players courted by organizers of the Saudi-backed Super Golf League.