There’s a party crasher at the HSBC Champions.
There’s an upstart who is trying to steal all the thunder from Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and the rest of the accomplished professionals in the field in Abu Dhabi.
Bryson DeChambeau is doing exactly that. The 22-year-old amateur is a shot off the 36-hole lead at the fog-delayed HSBC.
He is playing with skill and confidence and at this point, making Spieth and McIlroy look bad.
Play on Friday was delayed almost three hours by fog and the world’s No. 1 and No. 3 players looked like they were walking in a fog given their performances through 13 holes. McIlroy had no birdies and a bogey for his 13-hole effort and Spieth wasn’t much better. With errant drives and off-the-mark iron shots, Spieth struggled to make one birdie against a pair of bogeys.
Their playing partner Rickie Fowler was the best of the high-profile grouping. Wearing his high-tops and “elasticized pants” as the British announcers called them, Fowler came up with three birdies to get to five-under and tie McIlroy.
Both are five back of mid-way leader Andy Sullivan. Sullivan played in the early wave and put up a second straight 67 to get to 10-under.
DeChambeau was tied with him after his first eight holes but a bogey at the par five ninth set him a shot back.
Play was called due to darkness and the second round will finish early Saturday morning.
DeChambeau will have the entire front nine to equal or pass Sullivan. DeChambeau describes himself as “a golf scientist” and he’s a bird of a different color. All of his iron shafts are the same length — 37.5 inches, the length of a seven-iron. He heavily analyzes everything and is a proponent of the Homer Kelley book — The Golfing Machine. He has a degree in physics and is a deep thinking.
All that considered, he looks cool and calm in a professional field.
“It’s nice to be kind of an intern as an amateur playing professional events. I’m getting used to it and getting more comfortable each event,” DeChambeau said.
Can he sustain his good play?
He’s already finished runner up at the Australian Masters last November.
He has a long way to go and a strong field looking at him.
