DraftKings Extends Golf Ties, Teaming With U.S. Open Champ Bryson DeChambeau

It’s only fitting a golfer who’s built his career around numbers and data, not to mention unconventional approaches, is the new face of DraftKings golf.

Bryson DeChambeau partnered with the digital sports entertainment and gaming company on a multiyear content and marketing deal in which the reigning U.S. Open champion will seek to boost fan excitement and engagement with the sport.

Golf has been an increasingly-popular offering at DraftKings, which last year became the PGA TOUR’s fist official daily fantasy game and earlier this year expanded that relationship by being designated the tour’s first “Official Betting Operator.” Golf is the fourth-most popular sport for daily fantasy players at DraftKings, while the platform’s golf sportsbook handle has grown ten-fold over last year.

DeChambeau will wear the DraftKings logo on his signature Hogan cap next week at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, but DraftKings has bigger strategic plans than brand visibility in aligning with the seven-time PGA TOUR winner. The sponsorship also includes experiential elements for fan engagement, such as the opportunity for a DraftKings user to play a round of golf with DeChambeau or get golf lessons from a player who leads the tour with a 344.4-yard driving average.

DraftKings co-founder and CEO Jason Robins describes the collaboration as a “notable new layer of mainstream brand exposure and fan experience.” DeChambeau, known as “The Scientist” for his analytical approach to golf, applauded the company’s innovative effort to modernize the game through technology.

With his first major victory at Winged Foot in September, the 27-year-old DeChambeau joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to win an NCAA individual title, a U.S. Amateur, and the U.S. Open. He’s listed as the 8-1 favorite to win the Masters, which was rescheduled to November from April.

With the final round of the tournament overlapping with NFL games on Sunday, Nov. 15, DraftKings will offer its first multi-sport pool — a $100,000 free-to-play offering that the company says will capture the action of both golf and football. No doubt plenty of bettors will be eager to see if DeChambeau is in the last final-round pairing.