Bryson DeChambeau revealed to Phil Mickelson the reason he started his YouTube channel, becoming an online sensation.
DeChambeau has become one of the biggest stars in golf, and that is partly thanks to the meteoric rise of his YouTube channel. As of July 8th, 2025 he has 2.1 million subscribers on his channel, and is a large contributor to the rising popularity of YouTube golf.
Speaking with Mickelson in a YouTube video with the six-time major winner, he explained why he first decided to start on YouTube.
Bryson DeChambeau admits he first started YouTube to fix his reputation
Before he started YouTube, DeChambeau was far from his current status as one of the most popular golfers on the planet.
He was deemed arrogant, once calling Augusta National a “Par 67”, which he later apologised for, and hot-headed, experiencing outbursts on the course on multiple occasions. He once confronted a cameraman for filming him after he lashed out at a bunker with his club.
DeChambeau was blanked by Tiger Woods, despite going on a hot run of form after winning the 2020 Rocket Classic.
On Grant Horvat’s YouTube channel, DeChambeau admitted to Mickelson that his reputation on tour was one of the motivations for starting his YouTube channel.
He said, “During that time, obviously, there was a certain perception of me. I thought, ‘this is not who I am. Yes, I’m very passionate and dedicated, but how do I show people more of who I am?’
“That’s when I thought of YouTube, and thought this is a great opportunity for me to try to showcase who I am.”
DeChambeau’s approval ratings have since shot through the roof, and the two-time US Open winner said he has Mickelson to thank for it.
Bryson DeChambeau tells Phil Mickelson he was inspired by him to start YouTube
Mickelson himself was also a motivation for DeChambeau, who took inspiration from his instructional DVDs from nearly two decades ago.
Mickelson thanked DeChambeau for all he does for the game, to which he replied to his fellow LIV Golf star, “Thank you, you’re the one that inspired me with the content you used to do with the DVDs.”
He went on to say he took notice of current YouTubers such as Mr Beast, and thought there was a market for professional athletes to do the same.
“I saw Dude Perfect had 50 million subscribers and I thought, ‘my goodness, they’re just a trickshot team, we’re athletes. Why don’t we have that type of viewership?’ That was the first question I had.
“Then I saw Mr Beast and the same sort of thing. I thought, ‘How can we capitalise on this as professional athletes?’ That’s when I really started questioning myself. ‘What am I doing? What could I be doing more to engage our audience a little differently?
“Back in 2020, we shot our first video, ‘A Week on Tour’, and it got 800k views, and the rest is history. Hopefully, we’ll continue to inspire a bunch of kids in the future; that’s really the goal of this.”
Not only has DeChambeau achieved his goal of turning around his public perception, he has also played a part in inspiring a generation of young golfers.
According to the National Golf Foundation in 2024, the 18-34 age group are now the largest group of on-course players, at an estimated 6.3 million. No matter your opinion of the American, it’s hard to dismiss DeChambeau’s role in that.