If you can trust one person to make a statement and add something new to the conversation, then you can definitely count on Dan Rapaport. Recently, the Dan on Golf host has made some headlines. Take a glance at a couple. In the latest, Rapaport defended Ryder Cup’s decision to raise its ticket prices to $750. Before that, in the latest Netflix “Full Swing,” he defended Rory McIlroy in his battle against the media regarding his divorce situation. And his latest star of the conversation? Well, it’s Bryson DeChambeau and his habit of controlling the media around him.

Unless you have been absent when it comes to this part of DeChambeau’s life, the golfer is very careful about managing his public image through social media. He has over a whopping 1.7M subscribers on YouTube. Some fans often say his frequent updates are a move to “damage control” his image. But you can also blame his keen interest in building a bigger space for golf on the internet.

But is this also about keeping his social media image? Well, according to Alan Shipnuck, it is. Recently, Shipnuck sat down with Dan for an interview on Dan On Golf (1:17:13 – 1:18:44). They were reading tweets, and then came DeChambeau’s name. The tweet reads, “Any chance you could be working on a Bryson book. He didn’t want to give any interview to Full Swing so I was wondering if he was saving those details for you?” Adding to it, Rapaport said he doesn’t know; that’s such a big mystery. “He puts up more media than anyone.”

Shipnuck replied, “Yeah, I think the question references Full Swing and Bryson electing not to participate. I think he wants to control his media. He’s learned that he wants to own his narrative. He wants the spoils of putting everything out himself. For Full Swing, he has to relinquish some controls.” Interestingly, DeChambeau is listed as one of the cast of “Full Swing,” but according to the show’s executive producer, Chad Mumm, he didn’t have any “level of involvement.”

Shipnuck continued that the same will happen with the book. Well, unless DeChambeau has the “final say on every coma.” What’s going on with Bryson DeChambeau?

Bryson DeChambeau and the curious case of social media

DeChambeau’s love-hate relationship with the golf world, its players, and the media began a long time ago. But by the time 2019 rolled around, it was seriously damaging. One of the reasons for the excessive coverage was obviously his rivalry with Brooks Koepka. On top of that, his increasing involvement with one of golf’s major issues: slow play. DeChambeau was infamous for it, which is why viewers saw him more on TV than the other players who did the same. The hate was blown out of proportion.

No wonder it played a major role in shaping DeChambeau into the man he is now.

What about Full Swing? When discussing it, he said that one of the reasons he chose not to participate in the series is that he didn’t want to “take the light away” from those who are “pretty far behind.” Look, his heart is in the right place, but because of the way he constructed his statement, that’s what gave him the problem. This once again provoked a barrage of hate against him. It’s a cycle, though.

This and more made him want to control the media around him, so he shared more and more about himself. Only to realize that the hate was going to come anyway and that it was getting too invasive. People are looking at him from everywhere. “And to have more people come in and go even farther, which is almost impossible for what I’m giving out, is just overall too invasive for me. I didn’t really want any more than that because I do have to have a life outside of it.” His idea to share more with the public has opened the door for further judgement, and it’s likely to never end. And it happens to all of us. We all try to control the information around us. But Bryson DeChambeau’s case is giant.

And all of it takes a toll on people. DeChambeau said, “It became a lot on a human being.” Looking at this, what do you think about his choice of trying to control the media around him, even though it’s impossible?