AUGUSTA, Ga. – Bryson DeChambeau was going to destroy Augusta National last fall. He came out of a convincing 6-shot victory at the U.S. Open, beating the famous Winged Foot. He came to the Masters with the plan to do the same.
But something fun happened on the way to a green jacket.
DeChambeau hit him away at Augusta, but he went wide. The underrated short game that had also helped him in Winged Foot dropped him. He made 18 little birds and an eagle a week, that is, 20 below the pair, which was Dustin Johnson’s record winning score. But … DeChambeau also did 11 bogeys, two doubles and a triple.
“The stress of the tournament, just the spotlight, all of that,” he said. “It all took its toll. It was a combination of some things that scaled my brain.”
And now he’s back again, a little thinner, with a better understanding and appreciation for both the diet he undertook to gain weight and distance and for the need for precision around a golf course that requires it.
But that doesn’t mean he’s standing on tiptoe between the cornices and azaleas of the Masters this week, carefully navigating Augusta National.
Bryson DeChambeau plans to try to make bottles on site again.
“I had to look back on what went wrong, what happened, what didn’t allow me to perform at the highest level I did at the US Open,” DeChambeau said this spring as he also tried to fine-tune his body. “My driving wasn’t the longest at the U.S. Open, but I did amazing, I did amazing. My iron play was amazing and I drove pretty well.”
This, however, did not happen after he drove through Magnolia Lane.
“I look at Augusta … there were a lot of opportunities I missed with the wedge, the game and the iron,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it was necessarily the driver that got me in the most trouble, but there were definitely times when my putter and my wedges and my iron play worked.”
DeChambeau has a simple solution: keep working on it. Keep trying to increase the speed of the club head. Keep trying to add distance.
Even if it didn’t work out the first time he brought his scientific methods to Augusta National, DeChambeau walked away still gaining ground on the field.
He has other people thinking about him and watching his own games. As he improves and follows his plan, others have tried to imitate him and lost their way.
Rory McIlroy presented the best example. While the four-time major champion would never become a voracious eater and try to gain 40 pounds, as DeChambeau did, he certainly saw the benefits of trying to get more speed in his swing in an effort to hit the ball. . further away.
“I would be lying if I said it had nothing to do with what Bryson did at the U.S. Open,” McIlroy said after losing the cut at the Players Championship. “I think a lot of people saw it and it was like that, hey, if that’s the way they’re going to set up golf courses in the future, [distance] help. It really helps. “
Since mid-February, McIlroy has lost two cuts and was bounced back soon from the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play after his worst loss in a decade. He has two top 10s, but even those showed warning signs: he shot 72-76 over the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and finished with 71 at the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession. Both times he had a chance to win. Both times he hesitated over the weekend.
“I thought getting a little more speed was a good thing, and maybe just, to the detriment of a little bit of my swing,” McIlroy said. “I got there, but I just need to maybe slow it down a bit again.”
McIlroy is not alone.
“You would be stupid if you said what [DeChambeau is] doing it on golf courses doesn’t make it any easier, “Justin Thomas said. I think it’s extremely underestimated and not enough talk about the straight with which it does to turn at 135 mph. I can hit it almost damn at 116 or 117 mph. He hits it very well at 135. And he puts it very well.
“For me, he ‘s able to find that extra 10 or 15 or 20 [yards] if I need it or if I can do it. I would love to fly it 330 every time. No offense to Bryson, I’m not going to spend £ 40. I don’t have the build or the size for that. I have always been dedicated to making the most of what I can. “
DeChambeau has put a lot of thought and effort into it over the last two years. One day he didn’t start drinking protein shakes and lifting heavy weights. Under the direction of coach Greg Roskopf, who also works with the Denver Broncos of the NFL, he began establishing a plan more than two years before starting it in the fall of 2019.
The results were quick. An initial weight gain of 25 pounds. The length of the shirt that now wears him leading the PGA Tour at a driving distance of 320.8 yards has been added. (By history, McIlroy is third with 319.1).
DeChambeau admits he could have gone too far with all the meat, potatoes, eggs and other foods he consumed. Its daily amount had reached 6,000 calories. At the Masters he realized it was time to refine his diet.
In November, DeChambeau said during the tournament and weeks later he was not feeling well. He had balance problems. He even wondered if he had contracted the coronavirus; did a COVID-19 test before the third round. It turned negative.
“In fact, I went to several doctors, several people, trying to figure out what that was,” he said. “I got a couple of MRIs. I went to an inner ear doctor, I did eye tests, eye pressure, ear pressure, I even did ultrasounds on my heart, ultrasounds on my neck to see the flow. blood and how things were moving around the different areas of my body. Everything came back very, very well. “
DeChambeau also explained that he saw some fairly significant changes in the stomach, specifically inflammation. He began working on what he called “intestinal health” to alleviate problems.
This meant altering food intake a bit. So he returns to Augusta National a little thinner but still with the same distance and the same plan of attack. The preparation, however, this time is different.
Prior to the November event, he took a free month off the PGA Tour and focused only on the Masters. He contemplated using a 48-inch driver to try to gain even more distance to try to shorten Augusta National even further.
Although he is still focused on distance, this time he will have worked hard on other parts of his game. It will also come in with positive results. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and was in contention for the stretch in the Player Championship.
Distance is an advantage in Augusta National. DeChambeau knows it. However, it is not essential to be at the top of the standings to arrive on Sunday evening. Recent winners, such as Patrick Reed (287.4 yards from the tee, 182nd on the tour) or Danny Willett (292.9, 129th) prove you don’t need extra length to wear a green jacket. But it is very helpful to be able to drive the bunker to the first hole or drive the green to par-4 third or to have short irons to holes 13 and 15 of par-5. At Augusta National, all parties must work.
Think about it: DeChambeau played with 63-year-old Bernhard Langer in the November final round. Langer won his two Masters before 27-year-old DeChambeau was born. When they paired, Langer was 80 yards from DeChambeau. Langer shot 71; DeChambeau fired 73.
“I was amazed to see how they swayed and how hard they hit him, and every now and then I had to tell myself, keep going, stop watching and play your game and find out what you have to do,” Langer said. , who also played with McIlroy during the third round.
DeChambeau seems to spend every waking moment doing the same thing. Undoubtedly, this is how it appears when you are in a golf tournament, often under spotlights on the driving range, looking for the right combination of axes, attic, swing speed and everything you need to throw the ball into orbit. .
And now comes another shot against the Masters with their test plan still underway.
“I’m just trying to win tournaments,” he said. “I really don’t care too much what people think. It’s just about if I can do it. Look, if I fail, I’ll do my best to find out why I failed. So if the skeptics prove wrong, no “I appreciate the skeptics, the ones who really make me think more – is that really true? – and it makes me go even deeper down the rabbit hole.”