The great Bryson DeChambeau power experiment at the 2020 Masters has been an enormous failure.
DeChambeau managed a two-under par 70 on Thursday but things fell apart for him starting at the short, 350-yard third hole on Friday. It was there that DeChambeau, trying to drive the green, hooked his tee shot into some thick rough left of the hole. There were 20 people searching for the allowed three minutes but the ball was lost. He went back to the tee, hit his third and eventually walked off the green with a triple-bogey seven.
Bryson went bogey-bogey after that, never recovered and shot 74.
Later he made excuses.
“I’ve felt really, really odd the past few days,” he said. “I was getting a little dizzy — got checked for COVID, was negative.”
Bryson said they found the lost ball eventually. “A guy came up to me on the fourth tee, hands me the ball and says “I found it.” It just seems there’s a lot of things not going the right way.”
When DeChambeau looks back, he might consider that his on-site preparation was in a frenzy as he kept hitting driver after driver at the practice area on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, smashing drives with all his might.
Wild drives were DeChambeau’s downfall the first three days.
Perhaps he’ll see that Augusta National requires a strategic type of play, not just smash and gouge.
This go-round, the Mad Scientist’s lab experiment was a giant failure: 70-74 the first two rounds and with all the pressure off the pre-tournament favorite, he finally managed to shoot 69 on Saturday and found himself three-under par and tied for 29th after making the 36-hole cut on the number.
7 Comments
baxter cepeda
I deeply appreciate bryson sharing so much but he not only wore himself out swinging hard; he has been talking way too much. koepkas game went to crap once he started talking a lot.
Guess who will never start talking too much ?
That’s right the Masters champ. Or the defending champ.
Again, we love the info but bryson needs to remember they don’t hand out trophies for who shares the most geeky golf info.
As we know from the past two green jacket winners It’s often actually the guys whom share the least that end with the trophies. And the girl.
He would also benefit from visiting my favorite website (aside from toms) and watch every shot from DJ this week. If Bryson studies DJ and Tigers wins, he wins very soon. Bryson just needs to learn to harness himself here and there at Augusta like the past two champs. Imo
Tom Edrington
Bryson only needs to see the success of the short hitter to realize that his approach is totally flawed….he was driver-obsessed for all of Monday, Tuesday and even into Wednesday he was wailing away with drivers when he should have been in the short game area; He has an issue with distance control at inopportune times; His approach will work on some courses but not on this one.
baxter cepeda
It will work on most courses Tom, even Augusta with some restraint.
Tom Edrington
I don’t believe that. Bryson still has distance control problems with his short irons, wedges especially…..I saw a course on the European Tour that was only 6,700 yards but no one tore it up, trees were so tall that you could not fly the ball over corners….and I think we saw Bryson miss a lot of putts — no green-reading books.
baxter cepeda
He dominated the US open on one of the toughest courses in the world. Augusta has a learning curve like no other. As chamblee said it’s integrity was made to stand the tests of time.
Bryson will need more time to figure out Augusta with this body. But he will.
I agree trees are the answer to slowing bombers. And Smaller greens requiring more precise angles.
There’s a million Little things to slow down bombers but longer yardage is not one of them, that only separates them further and emboldens them more.
On that note…
The Masters moved the tee on 13 left, as has been recommended by some, and it seemed to really help. Bryson had the one bomb that left him a sand wedge, but I mostly saw a bunch of bombers, including DJ, Plenty back from the green and in the Steep right ‘3rd cut’ or trees.
They can clearly make Azalea even tougher if they want without adding a yard her; starting with moving that tee even further left.
I am also very curious when they will replace the Eisenhower clone they have reported previously. It’s been some time now.
Tom Edrington
I’m also wondering when they’re going to unveil a new back tee at 13…they bought the property from Augusta CC specifically for that, don’t be surprised to see it in April.
baxter cepeda
According to Mr Ridley nothing will change by April.
Mainly (as you know) because their season started and runs past April.
Any new work on the course will have to wait until after summer.
This potential change to 13 is a huge undertaking. The Reno on 5 looks amazing but it has changed the character of the hole quite a bit, something that cannot happen to 12 and 13.
They need to be extra careful with Amen Corner. In fact they are still not guaranteeing any lengthening of 13 because it’s a risky undertaking.
The purchase was necessary regardless of 13 lengthening. They could need more infrastructure Behind Amen Corner for maintenance.
As for April, They can let some branches grow in left of the 13th tee. And tighten that tee box even more.
#Make them go right#