In 2021, a big burly man who looked more like a long-drive champion masquerading as a golfer was testing the limits of the driving range at the Augusta Golf Club. Vijay Singh, the Fijian 2000 Masters Champion looked on from the next bay, somewhat bemused, as Bryson DeChambeau smashed six drivers in one minute as part of what he calls his ‘speed drill.’ That was one year after DeChambeau stoked controversy after claiming that he viewed Augusta GC as a “…Par 67,” since he could, “…reach all the par-fives in two, no problem.” No one has ever let DeChambeau forget that remark, and rightly so, since he’s never come close to contending at The Masters. DeChambeau’s best finish remains the T-21 from his debut appearance as an amateur many years back.
That looks likely to change later today as the 2024 Masters Tournament draws to a close. DeChambeau shot a brilliant seven-under 65 to take the first-round lead. “I’m trying to be more patient and knowing what the golf course can give you and what it can take away and respect it,” he said at the post-round presser. “But when you feel like it’s gettable, you see it’s right in front of you, it can be super tricky.” In the second round, strong winds swept through the tall pine trees, sand blew out from the white bunkers, and the entire field struggled to break par. DeChambeau shot a creditable 73 for a total score of 6-under and, at the time this column is being written, is tied for the lead with world number one Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa.
The 60 players who survived the cut at 6-over 150 include Tiger Woods, who made history at the Masters by qualifying for the cut for the 24th consecutive time. Most encouragingly, Woods was able to physically get through 23 holes in one day: finishing the weather-delayed first round in the morning and then playing a second round later in the day. Even more impressively Woods shot an even-par 72 in the second round on a day when the average score was 75: he’s only seven shots back and very much in the mix going into the weekend. “I’m here. I still have a chance to win the tournament,” he said after the second round. Despite the lack of competitive golf over the past two years and niggling injuries, it’s impossible not to take Tiger Woods seriously. If he says he’s got a chance, then you can be pretty sure that he’s playing for it.
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Both Homa and Scheffler played very calibrated strategic golf on the first two days, gingerly plotting their way around Augusta, Rory McIlroy, who played with Scheffler on the first two days, had a ringside view. “It’s hard not to notice,” McIlroy said. “Scottie does such a good job. It doesn’t look like it’s 6-under par, and then at the end of the day, it’s 6-under par. He’s just so efficient with everything.” Unfortunately for him, McIlroy is ten shots back going into the weekend and is unlikely to contend for the Green Jacket that would complete for the Irishman.
DeChambeau, on the other hand, is looking pretty unbeatable. ‘The Scientist’ has seen some very distinct phases in his golfing career, from rebuilding his golf swing and the physique to go with it to making his own golf clubs. Finally, it appears, he’s focusing on playing the game and not technique. Even his descriptions of technique, which used to be full of physics jargon, were more like “take dead aim”. “The motion is really just tilt the shoulders to swing more inside out. That’s all it is. And in putting, take it straight back, straight through. Those are the two biggest things I’ve focused on. I’m in the golf stage of my career,” he said after the first round. “Every day I’m just saying to myself, just swing the same way you have been for the past eight months since the Greenbrier, and go back to those feels every single day. I know that works…” And you can see that change manifests in the way DeChambeau has tackled Augusta: using a combination of power and placement and stringing the whole thing together with bulletproof putting. He’s avoided the big numbers mainly because he’s not gone for broke trying to play hero shots.
DeChambeau has averaged three double bogeys (or worse) per tournament, in each of his last five Masters tournaments. He was the first-round leader in one of those Masters. He would have ended in the top 10 in two others if he had kept those numbers in the bogey range. Given his penchant for stats, it’s a fair conjecture that he knows this only too well and has been guarding against his natural propensity for taking undue chances. And when he has, DeChambeau has been lucky to get away with it. On the first day, he drove it into the trees on the par-5 15th hole. From 220 yards, he played a risky shot over some pine trees and went for the green. “I pushed it a bit,” he said. “It clipped the tree. I hit four pine needles rather than five, and it worked out perfectly. It was a little bit of a scary shot. I probably shouldn’t have done it…” he said later. When he spoke about the shot later, the sense one got was that DeChambeau was admitting that he got away with one and was unlikely to push his luck again.
If he continues to stick to this game plan and manages to putt the way he has been the first two days, DeChambeau will be hard to beat. Except for the likes of Scottie Scheffler, who has won just about every other event he’s teed it up at this season. Meredith, Scheffler’s wife is currently pregnant with their first child, and he mentioned that he will leave the event if she goes into labour. “I am prepared to leave at a moment’s notice,” Scheffler said. That might well be the only way anyone else has a chance of catching the world’s top-ranked golfer.
In 2021, a big burly man who looked more like a long-drive champion masquerading as a golfer was testing the limits of the driving range at the Augusta Golf Club. Vijay Singh, the Fijian 2000 Masters Champion looked on from the next bay, somewhat bemused, as Bryson DeChambeau smashed six drivers in one minute as part of what he calls his ‘speed drill.’ That was one year after DeChambeau stoked controversy after claiming that he viewed Augusta GC as a “…Par 67,” since he could, “…reach all the par-fives in two, no problem.” No one has ever let DeChambeau forget that remark, and rightly so, since he’s never come close to contending at The Masters. DeChambeau’s best finish remains the T-21 from his debut appearance as an amateur many years back.
That looks likely to change later today as the 2024 Masters Tournament draws to a close. DeChambeau shot a brilliant seven-under 65 to take the first-round lead. “I’m trying to be more patient and knowing what the golf course can give you and what it can take away and respect it,” he said at the post-round presser. “But when you feel like it’s gettable, you see it’s right in front of you, it can be super tricky.” In the second round, strong winds swept through the tall pine trees, sand blew out from the white bunkers, and the entire field struggled to break par. DeChambeau shot a creditable 73 for a total score of 6-under and, at the time this column is being written, is tied for the lead with world number one Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa.
The 60 players who survived the cut at 6-over 150 include Tiger Woods, who made history at the Masters by qualifying for the cut for the 24th consecutive time. Most encouragingly, Woods was able to physically get through 23 holes in one day: finishing the weather-delayed first round in the morning and then playing a second round later in the day. Even more impressively Woods shot an even-par 72 in the second round on a day when the average score was 75: he’s only seven shots back and very much in the mix going into the weekend. “I’m here. I still have a chance to win the tournament,” he said after the second round. Despite the lack of competitive golf over the past two years and niggling injuries, it’s impossible not to take Tiger Woods seriously. If he says he’s got a chance, then you can be pretty sure that he’s playing for it.
Both Homa and Scheffler played very calibrated strategic golf on the first two days, gingerly plotting their way around Augusta, Rory McIlroy, who played with Scheffler on the first two days, had a ringside view. “It’s hard not to notice,” McIlroy said. “Scottie does such a good job. It doesn’t look like it’s 6-under par, and then at the end of the day, it’s 6-under par. He’s just so efficient with everything.” Unfortunately for him, McIlroy is ten shots back going into the weekend and is unlikely to contend for the Green Jacket that would complete for the Irishman.
DeChambeau, on the other hand, is looking pretty unbeatable. ‘The Scientist’ has seen some very distinct phases in his golfing career, from rebuilding his golf swing and the physique to go with it to making his own golf clubs. Finally, it appears, he’s focusing on playing the game and not technique. Even his descriptions of technique, which used to be full of physics jargon, were more like “take dead aim”. “The motion is really just tilt the shoulders to swing more inside out. That’s all it is. And in putting, take it straight back, straight through. Those are the two biggest things I’ve focused on. I’m in the golf stage of my career,” he said after the first round. “Every day I’m just saying to myself, just swing the same way you have been for the past eight months since the Greenbrier, and go back to those feels every single day. I know that works…” And you can see that change manifests in the way DeChambeau has tackled Augusta: using a combination of power and placement and stringing the whole thing together with bulletproof putting. He’s avoided the big numbers mainly because he’s not gone for broke trying to play hero shots.
DeChambeau has averaged three double bogeys (or worse) per tournament, in each of his last five Masters tournaments. He was the first-round leader in one of those Masters. He would have ended in the top 10 in two others if he had kept those numbers in the bogey range. Given his penchant for stats, it’s a fair conjecture that he knows this only too well and has been guarding against his natural propensity for taking undue chances. And when he has, DeChambeau has been lucky to get away with it. On the first day, he drove it into the trees on the par-5 15th hole. From 220 yards, he played a risky shot over some pine trees and went for the green. “I pushed it a bit,” he said. “It clipped the tree. I hit four pine needles rather than five, and it worked out perfectly. It was a little bit of a scary shot. I probably shouldn’t have done it…” he said later. When he spoke about the shot later, the sense one got was that DeChambeau was admitting that he got away with one and was unlikely to push his luck again.
If he continues to stick to this game plan and manages to putt the way he has been the first two days, DeChambeau will be hard to beat. Except for the likes of Scottie Scheffler, who has won just about every other event he’s teed it up at this season. Meredith, Scheffler’s wife is currently pregnant with their first child, and he mentioned that he will leave the event if she goes into labour. “I am prepared to leave at a moment’s notice,” Scheffler said. That might well be the only way anyone else has a chance of catching the world’s top-ranked golfer.
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