The emergence of LIV Golf rocked an entire sport to its core.
It also rocked close bonds and tight friendships, including those of Bryson DeChambeau and Tiger Woods, who were once frequent practice round buddies before the former defected to the controversial Saudi-backed league in 2022.
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The 15-time major winner was clearly royally cheesed off with DeChambeau's decision to abandon the PGA Tour two years ago.
He promptly cut off all communication with Bryson, and didn't even text him back when the 2020 U.S. Open champion wished him a happy birthday.
"It is what it is," DeChambeau said at the time.
"He has his viewpoints on it and thinks we’re potentially hurting his record. If anything, nobody is ever going to touch his record. That’s just it, that’s the bottom line. There’s a chance to grow the game even more and I hope one day he’ll see the vision that we all have out here.”
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Woods has given DeChambeau the cold shoulder for two years, but that silence came to an end at The Open this week when Woods finally extended the olive branch to his former Ryder Cup teammate.
According to Sports Illustrated's Bob Harig, Woods approached DeChambeau during practice at Royal Troon this week to congratulate him on last month's triumph at the U.S. Open.
"It is the first communication, but I'll say he's competitor and I have a lot of respect for him," DeChambeau said of the recent interaction with Tiger.
"I'm sure that winning two U.S. Opens definitely helped, I guess, for him coming up and saying congrats. I don't know what his position is, but it was very thoughtful, and I was appreciative of it.''
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Reconciliation with Woods aside, DeChambeau endured a torrid time in South Ayrshire, Scotland, on Thursday at the fourth and final major of the year.
DeChambeau -- and Rory McIlroy, who Bryson recently duelled with at Pinehurst before claiming his second major victory -- struggled mightily in windy weather conditions, leaving them both struggling to make the cut.
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DeChambeau shot a six-over 42 on the front nine, including a double bogey on the par-five sixth.
He shot 1-under on the back nine to finish with a first-round 76, while McIlroy finished seven-over par for the day.
The 30-year-old DeChambeau was one of the favourites to lift the claret jug this week, despite finishing inside the top 30 just once in six previous Open starts.
In the aftermath of his disappointing opening round, the once divisive golf personality, who has reinvented himself through his popular YouTube channel, claimed issues with his equipment were causing him major problems.
“I’m going to go figure it out. It’s something equipment-related,” he said.
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“I’m not at 190 ball speed (this week), so particularly when I’m hitting driver or 3-wood, those clubs are built for around that speed, so colder, firmer conditions the golf ball is not compressing as much.
"It’s probably something along those lines. I felt like I was swinging it somewhat OK, just the ball wasn’t coming off in that window that I normally see, so it was a weird day.”