It has always been easy to be skeptical when it comes to Bryson DeChambeau, who looks like he’s becoming a major disruptor on the world golf stage.
First, it was easy to be skeptical of a guy who decided that all his irons would be the same length — the guy’s got a bag full of six-irons, for goodness-sakes.
Second, it was easy to be skeptical when he put those monster fat grips on said irons.
Third, Bryson, the degreed physicist, has made a trip around the golf course one big mathematical permutation and it’s easy to be skeptical about that approach.
Fourth, the guy was slow as molasses in the winter-time and it was easy to shake one’s head over his snail-like pace of play.
Now if all that isn’t enough, add the fact that he found Dr. Frankenstein’s lab out in Colorado and somehow managed to add about 35 pounds to his frame, making him look like he should be an enforcer for Don Corleone.
Okay, if that’s not enough, he was bound and determined to get to the 200 mile-per-hour ball speed mark with his driver. With drives hitting the 370-mark, he’s ready to check that one off his list of weird science.
Despite all of that weird science, no player has been better on the PGA Tour since it re-started after the COVID-19 break. If you had to vote for the best player in the world, today, right now, forget about two-years of data for the Official World Golf Rankings, well, you could easily say it is Bryson.
Bryson could have won at the Schwab Challenge (finished tied for third); he tied for eighth at The Heritage; tied for sixth at The Travelers then won last week in Detroit. Just to refresh everyone’s memory, his finished tied for fifth at the Genesis last February then finished solo second at the WGC-Mexico then fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
During the COVID break, this guy comes back looking, well, like a guy ready to test the 400-yard mark with his driver.
“Obviously he has too much time on his hands,” quipped Kevin Kisner, who finished solo third behind DeChambeau and Matt Wolff in Detroit. “He needs some kids or something,” Kisner added with a wry smile.
Then Kisner pretty much summed up what most were thinking after watching DeChambeau over-power the Donald Ross layout at Detroit Golf Club. “He’s changed the entire way the game is played. It’s just amazing, it’s fun to watch,” says Kisner.
What DeChambeau is doing on the golf course defies conventional thinking. His golf ball seems to defy gravity when it rips off his driver-face and stays in the air for eight-plus seconds.
DeChambeau is finally taking a week off but he’s got something in mind. He’s heading back to Colorado and hints that he may explore the possibility of, get this — adding even more weight and bulk to that frame of his.
Well, it’s good news for the rest of the field at Muirfield Village that he’s finally taking a week off. No one has to go through the agony of getting out-driven by 50, 60 and sometimes 70 or more yards.
Bad news is he’ll be back in another week to see what he can do with Jack’s course up there at Muirfield Village. Jack may want to think about getting that rough up to six inches — you gotta do something to slow this guy down.
Which brings us to the three, not four majors, that will still be staged this year.
How will Bryson handle Harding Park in San Francisco? Can he over-power that esteemed layout.
What about Winged Foot? You gotta think the starched shirts at the USGA are huddled right now, talking about this guy and his length off the tee.
And then there’s Augusta National. Back in 1997 a very young Tiger Woods absolutely over-powered “The National.” He was hitting wedges into par fives and sand wedges into some of the longer par fours. Sound familiar? Woods shot a record-setting 18-under par with rounds of 70-66-65-69. If you’re old enough, you might recall he shot 40 on his opening nine that year. Augusta National then undertook a mission to “Tiger-proof” the course.
It has held up well but now there’s this guy, this DeChambeau guy.
What he’s basically done is figure out a lot of stuff that probably didn’t cross anyone’s mind when it comes to this game of ours.
Face it, he’s a total disruptor.
Which brings us back to the majors.
Will Bryson and Bulkamania run wild?
Tough question but then this guy has done it his way, every step of the way. He’s broken all the rules and given the golf world something different.
And man, is it different!
10 Comments
baxter cepeda
I think San Fran is Brysons best chance. He knows the grasses well. It’s a tree lined course with very little To fear accuracy wise; not that he has an accuracy problem. And Even 6 inches of rough won’t slow him much.
Augusta has all that pressure.
And winged foots famed toughness will be put to the test. That being said Bryson has options to either expose and overpower that place or adjust as needed.
He obviously has a great chance in all of them, but Harding Park is possibly as sure a bet in golf since tiger. Rory will be a fascinating factor moving forward. Rorys mouth has relished being back at number one, bit his clubs are gonna have to take up the talking of he is going to hold off Bryson in all of golfs major leader boards, rankings and so forth.
Tom Edrington
I won’t sell Brooks Koepka short in any major….he’s got the game, the moxy and the swagger.
baxter cepeda
No doubt. Brooks and Bryson seem to have some heavy collision courses coming up. These 2 horses gots 2 love the same courses.
But aside from Brooks and Rory Theres so much serious talent out there. As disruptive as bryson is Brysons isn’t tiger 2.0. The field is still a very good bet.
But still with all these edges he has developed It would be shocking if Bryson doesn’t win one in 2020.
Tom Edrington
I’m not ready to concede any majors to Bryson; He hasn’t felt that kinda heat yet!
Tyrone Shoelace III
BDC is bringing more than a breath of fresh air into the professional golfing world, he has brought a new game and a new attitude.
The current batch of young pros are really no different to the generation before them, who were no different to their predecessors.
They look the same, they practice the same, they play the same, they worry about the same things, they take their great natural ability, hone it by the same coaching and continue to turn up, win or not and go home – and same thing next week.
In BDC we have the total opposite and this is why he is bringing a lot of excitement and a lot of coverage into the professional arena. Couple this with the young amateur golfers’ interest in BDC’s new approach to golf and his innovative approach to his continuous improvements to all aspects of play, equipment and outlook.
It’s not only the golf courses that will need to be reassessed: the golf equipment design and production teams are going to have stop their own ‘same as’ approach and ‘Do a Bryson’!
Now that is going to be almost as interesting as BDC.
Tom Edrington
I beg to differ — swings have changed immensely from the Tom Kite era “reverse-C” that damaged a lot of back, today it’s post up on the left leg; The new generation resists the turn with their right side; All you have to do is go back and see how much hip turn there used to be; A lot less today; Also look at the evolution of putting grips; If Sam Snead or Hogan had been able to use these variations of “the claw” no telling what might have happened. The biggest difference is that this generation of players doesn’t have to win to make a huge living and that as pointed out by Jack Nicklaus; Jack said that in his day, you HAD to win and win often to make money, especially in the endorsement arena. Rickie Fowler is the perfect example — just 5 PGA Tour wins and he bought a $15 million mansion in Jupiter; So no, these guys make so much money they have no worries in that area, which was a big worry back in the day; As for Bryson, it will be interesting to see him in the majors — keep in mind the highest finish he’s had is 15th; He hasn’t felt the heat of a major championship perhaps with a guy like Brooks Koepka staring at him; Yes, people are talking about BAD (his initials) and it will be interesting to see how he does the rest of the way.
baxter cepeda
The big hip turn is making a comeback.
Tom Edrington
Your favorite player, The Stinkin’ Veej, still has that big-time hip-turn!
Tyrone Shoelace III
Your highly impressive display of knowledge of the intricate technicalities of swing, your detailed equipment proficiency coupled with golf’s long history of elite players shames my fledgling interest in your game.
I must accept your speedy damnation of my immature and clearly unwelcome viewpoints.
As I continue my home-bound education, my isolation from friends and to learn from my limited experience about living in today’s challenging, yet weirdly exciting world that has been evolved by generations before me, I turned to golf as an escape mechanism. Clearly this is also fraught with danger and has it’s own hidden hazards for novices to negotiate.
I should never have dipped my toe in golf’s turbulent water hazard by daring to post my first puerile observations on your esteemed column.
While it would be meaningless for me to apologise now, I nod to your obvious immense stature in the world of golf and your unchallengable knowledge of your single topic.
I’m sure there are many who have gone before me who are similarly subservient to your position at the highest level of international golf – but probably not the uncompromising and seemingly rather unsettling Mr. DeChambeau.
Now, where’s that box of Tiddlywinks: I know I’ve seen it somewhere……
Tom Edrington
Tyrone: Please feel free to drop in all the time. ALL opinions are welcome here, there are as many views and opinions in golf as there are swings; The interesting thing about golf is that it is like fingerprints — no two swings are identical…..I have been fortunate to spend a lot of time observing some of the game’s greatest players and teachers and even more fortunate to spend a lot of time speaking with them; Same for other sports as well; I was fortunate enough to spend about an hour with Don Shula the year after the Dolphins went 17-0 and he gave me a primer on football and that was a treat; In no way would I consider my own observation “a speedy damnation” of your viewpoints and they certainly are welcome. I do detect a touch of sarcasm in your reply above…..