Tag: Bryson DeChambeau

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Bryson DeChambeau gives a first warning to Brooks Koepka hitting a 521-yard driver off the top of a casino

Bryson DeChambeau of team United States reacts to his eagle on the first green during Sunday Singles Matches of the 43rd Ryder Cup 2021.(Getty)

The European Tour and the LPGA Tour seasons ended last weekend in the 21st of November, 2021. The PGA Tour still has one last event before is over. However, there is one more off-season show in between. Every golf and drama lover has been awaiting for this battle since October. Last month, two of the most controversial golfers on Tour, Bryson DeChambeau(28) and Brooks Koepka(31) announced their 12-hole match to square off their differences.

The drama started years ago over the social media, and it turned into a very loud topic within the golf world. Due to the teambonding at the 43rd Ryder Cup, the audience witnessed them waving the white flag of peace, and finally shaking hands. The duo will face each other on November 26th at the Wynn Golf Course, the only golf course on the Las Vegas strip.

Bryson DeChambeau shows off the gains

It is not new to find DeChambeau on social media working on his long-driver skills. When the yardage seems like reaching the human limit, he surprises his followers. The power and the speed of his swing were such that the TopGolf range fell short. The the 2020 U.S. Open champ was just casually bombing balls over the net.

The 521-yard driver that is shaping up to be a smash hit

In case that the TopGolf show was not enough to get in the nerves of his opponent, DeChambeau decided to get up to the roof of the Wynn Hotel, and hit a 521-yard driver. The target was the venue of their match, at Wynn Golf Club, stting just 650 feet below the rooftop tee box. This video was shared as a preamble to The Match, showing DeChambeau is coming on strong in the Black Friday Battle.

After trying out some hockey swings, Bryson embraced that club, and prepared to break the ball into million pieces. Koepka had set a target that caught DeChambeau out of guard at first. Little did he knew that DeChambeau was just warming up.

He finally blasts his ball and hits the perfect line. It went so far that it bounced after the target, rolling over to the fairway behind. Not to risky to say that his opponent’s mouth dropped open within the next second. The result of the upcoming match is still a mystery… Nevertheles, facts are that Koepka is going to have to sharpen up his short game.

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Fun Professionals

Black Friday Battle Between Brooks & Bryson

(Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

It’s on! Finally, these two will dish it out on the green and only one will come out on top. No more social media scruffs or side eyeing each other at tournaments. The duo will square off in a 12-hole match on November 26 at the Wynn Golf Course, the only golf course on the Las Vegas strip. 

Bryson Dechambeau (28) and Brooks Koepka (31) are both pro American golfers who are stars on the PGA Tour. With their recent success at the Ryder Cup, all spectators have their eyes on these two. However, not only for their golf game. Fans have been sitting on the edge of their seat to see where the drama will lead between the two men. Is one golfer truly better than the other? Is this a fight over skill or over fame? Where did it all begin?

The Beginning

The feud began in 2018, when Koepka criticized how slow DeChambeau was playing. “I just don’t understand how it takes a minute and 20 seconds, a minute and 15 to hit a golf ball; it’s not that hard,” Koepka said at the time. DeChambeau hit back by digging at Koepka’s physique, claiming he didn’t have any abs.

Koepka then took to social media to retilate..

Then when Dechambeau was paired with Aaron Rogers  for “The Match” against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady, Brooks sent a “I’m sorry bro” tweet to Aaron Rogers.  Dechambeau gracefully responded with,

Meme moments

After that, everything came to a head when Koepka became a meme at the PGA Championship. Koepka broke during a post-round conversation with the media when DeChambeau walked past, making a point of making as much noise on the pavement as he could with his spikes.

No, there was no beef at the Ryder Cup.

The two were fortunately not paired and were able to focus on gaining the win for the US team. There were no side eyeing, no tweeting, and no one was called Brooksy. They even seemed to enjoy each other’s presence and sat next to each other during the press conferences.

KOHLER, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 23: Bryson DeChambeau of team United States and Brooks Koepka of team United States attend the opening ceremony for the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits on September 23, 2021 in Kohler, Wisconsin. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Anticipating November

So whether the beef is over, was never real, or the two still hate each other, it could all get resolved this November. Hopefully they both don’t eat too much Turkey the day before and give all their best, regardless if they have abs or not.

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Highlights Tours

Bryson DeChambeau: “The driver sucks”

Bryson DeChambeau during his first round of the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

Q. +1 for the opening round, but you only hit four fairways from 14. Despite that obviously not looking great, you must take a lot of heart that you’re still +1 and still in with a shout despite kind of wayward drives. If you straightened those up, you certainly must think you must be contending by the end of the week.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, and that’s what I said yesterday or a couple days ago. If I can hit it down the middle of the fairway, that’s great, but with the driver right now, the driver sucks.

It’s not a good face for me and we’re still trying to figure out how to make it good on the mis-hits. I’m living on the razor’s edge like I’ve told people for a long time. When I did get it outside of the fairway, like in the first cut and whatnot, I catch jumpers out of there and I couldn’t control my wedges.

It’s quite finicky for me because it’s a golf course that’s pretty short, and so when I hit driver and it doesn’t go in the fairway, it’s first cut or whatever, or it’s in the hay, it’s tough for me to get it out on to the green and control that.

but when it’s in the middle of the fairway like I had it on 18, I was able to hit a nice shot to 11 feet and almost made birdie. It’s kind of living on the razor’s edge, and if I can figure out how to make that driver how to go straight and figure out the jumpers out of the rough, it would be awesome. I just can’t figure it out. It’s forever.

Q. When you’re dealing with that kind of thing with the driver, are you going to be having somebody working on that now? Did you not realise that during the practice round? What’s the dynamic of that, and how difficult is that to change in mid-stream during a tournament?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I’ve realised this for years now. This has happened since 2016-17 when players stopped drawing it. There’s not very many golfers that draw it anymore. It’s not because of spin rate. Everybody thinks it’s — we’re at 2000, 1800 spin or whatever. It’s not.

It’s literally the physics and the way that they build heads now. It’s not the right design, unfortunately, and we’ve been trying to fix it and Cobra has been working their butt off to fix it, we just haven’t had any results yet.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com

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Highlights Tours

Bryson DeChambeau: “I’m just here to play golf and focus on that”

Bryson DeChambeau during his practice round ahead of the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

STUART MOFFATT: You’ve just come off your first practice round. I wonder how things are looking out there and what your first impressions are of Royal St. George’s.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Royal St. George’s is an amazing golf course. The weather is beautiful today. Yesterday I played a little bit with Phil and a couple others. We had a great time out there.

It’s pretty interesting. There’s a certain amount of holes that you can kind of go after it on, and there’s a couple that you can’t. If you hit it in the rough, in the hay.

Yesterday I played a little bit with Phil and a couple others. We had a great time out there. It’s pretty interesting, there was a certain amount of holes that you can kind of go after it on, and there’s a couple that you can’t. If you hit it in the rough, in the hay, it’s not easy to get out of.

I hope I can hit it far enough to where I can wedge it out still onto the green if I get good enough lies, but there’s certain lies out there it’s going to be a pitch back to the fairway, and that’s including for everybody.

If you’re hitting it 300 off the tee and it goes into the hay, it’s not easy to get to the green from there, either.

I hope that the length will be a little bit of an advantage. I just have to drive it well. That’s what I have to do this week, and the speed controlling the greens is going to be huge. If I don’t three-putt this week, I’ll have a pretty good chance going into Sunday.

Q. I don’t mean to start on a negative, but your Open record on its own suggests that figuring out links golf or an Open Championship has been tricky for you.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: For sure.

Q. Is there any reason why that seems to be the case?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I mean, I don’t know why. I played well in the Walker Cup when it was here. I had the best — I played really great golf. Maybe the conditions have been favourable when I played over in the Walker Cup, where I do pretty well with not as windy conditions and firmer ground environments.

The times I’ve played in the British Opens in the past, I think they’ve been a little wet and windy. I usually struggle on that in general.

I think that hopefully if we get a little bit of a dry week, I can get the wind under control in my brain, hopefully I can have a good week. I love links golf. I’ve shot low numbers over here before, but it’s about putting it together for four rounds and making sure my game is pretty repeatable.

The thing is you can’t miss it out here very often. If you do you’re in the hay and it’s not easy to get out of. This is the first time I’ve taken my length to links golf. We’ll see how that plays. Maybe it plays out week; maybe it doesn’t. I’ll keep trying to figure it out.

I look at Tiger and what he did back in the early 2000s, hitting 7- and 8-irons off every tee, that’s an interesting thought process that may come into play here soon, but there’s too many places out here where covering some of those bunkers is a huge advantage no matter what, so that’s kind of the game plan I’m going to take as of right now.

Q. I’m kind of curious, other the last few months we’ve watched you launch a few drives into a few crowds and you don’t seem so shout fore. Just wondering why you don’t?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I do shout fore. I don’t know what you’re talking about. There are plenty of people on the tee box that do shout fore. You’re brining up a very controversial thing, which is unfortunate, but 99 per cent of the time I do, and unfortunately people think I don’t. But that’s okay, they can say whatever they want.

Q. Obviously it’s the first time you’ve been out of the country for a while. Brooks was in here earlier saying that he continued to feel you were fair game and that he was going to take his shots. I just wonder how you feel about this row now because it seems to become a pit of a pantomime.

DeChambeau on the feud with Brooks

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: He can say whatever he wants. I think he said something back at Liberty National not upholding something. I don’t know what he’s talking about in that regard. Maybe that’s on me. Maybe I didn’t. I really don’t remember anything about that. We just had a conversation that I really don’t know what happened, because we haven’t really bantered back and forth until now, so it’s like why is that happening now.

Besides that, I’m just here to play golf and focus on that. If we want to keep bantering back and forth, obviously being respectful and keeping lines where they aren’t getting crossed, yeah, I think it’s fun and a good environment for people in golf.

Q. Is there a sort of more contrived element to this, the fact he’s offering his fans free beer if they taunt you on the course?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I don’t know. That’s, again, probably more of a PGA TOUR or I would say R&A/USGA issue than even me. I mean, I can’t do anything about that. He can do whatever he wants.

Q. Could you just give us any examples from today of sort of hitting it out of the hay, as you called it, anything in particular —

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, 15 you hit it left — I hit it left and it was in some pretty thick stuff, and I tried to get a 7-iron out of it and just didn’t — I could barely get it out. It’s pretty diabolical.

I think you’ve just got to weigh the risk-reward in those situations. If you get a good lie, I’ll be able to get it out of there up next to the green and hopefully save par. But the key is driving it in the fairway this week. No matter what, you’ve got to be in the fairway.

If I get in there more times than not into the hay, probably not going to have a good chance this week. So you’ve got to make sure the driver is well.

15 was brutal. I mean, even on 14, I just tried to chip it out of the left over in the water. It was in the thick stuff, the hay, and just chipped it out with a 58-degree back into the fairway because there’s nothing more you can do, it was such a bad lie. Good test.

Q. Apart from being the only venue in the south of England, is there anything else that makes this one apart from the other venues that you’ve played in in the Open?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Anything that is distinctly different is what you’re trying to — well, it’s a lot softer in the fairways this year I feel like than in other British Opens that I’ve played in. Even in Portrush when it was still raining it was still running out quite a bit from what I can remember. Maybe I’m wrong in that.

But it seems like the fairways are holding golf balls a lot better. Maybe because it’s early in the week. But that’s what I can recognise right now that’s a little bit different.

Q. It’s not really been your nature of late, but is there anyplace out there where you feel like you need to lay up or you might lay up off the tee, not hit driver?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, 14; if the wind is into me I’ll definitely be laying up there.

5, the dogleg left, hitting a 4-iron off the tee. I can’t cover the 338 number I think it is, then I’ll be laying up there, as well.

8, good example, too. I’ll try and lay up short of those right bunkers, give myself a wedge into the green.

So yeah, there’s definitely still a lot of places.

No. 3, it’s kind of over the big Himalayan — I think they call it the Himalayan bunker or something like that. I’m not sure. But hitting it over that part, I’m not going to be hitting drivers too tight up in that little corridor.

Q. I just had a question for you, some players thrive on controversy and conflict and distractions and stuff like that and can perform on from that. How would you describe yourself as handling those kind of things? Obviously Detroit, I don’t know how much that affected that week for you, but how do you describe yourself as a guy that handles those kind of outside things?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I mean, everybody is human. I’m definitely human. We all make mistakes and things happen. We have emotion. And I think that sometimes people objectify us big players at the top of the game too much and they don’t realise that we are human and we make mistakes and things happen.

Somebody that thrives in controversy, I don’t even think it’s about that. Look, I never grew up to become famous. I grew up to play golf, and that’s something that people I don’t think realise. It’s difficult to truly understand unless you’re in this environment, and sometimes you just try and make the best of situations, and they don’t necessarily look good or come out the right way.

That’s life, unfortunately. Us as professionals, we have to be on top of it all the time. Unfortunately it just doesn’t come out the right way sometimes or happen the way you want it to, and we make mistakes.

At the end of the day we have to move on and do the best we possibly can. For me, I’m somebody that doesn’t necessarily like controversy. I just like doing my own thing. Do I like showcasing something unique and different? Yeah, but I guess what comes with that is controversy, and I guess that’s something that I don’t necessarily deal the best with sometimes.

At the end of the day I try to do the best. I’m trying to become better at it.

Q. Going back to the comments about Koepka being sure that you won’t be paired together in the Ryder Cup, would you have any problem being paired with him in the Ryder Cup?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Oh, no, not at all. I think would be kind of funny actually. I think we’d do well, to be honest. It would create a little interesting vibe for the team or for the guys we’re playing against.

Q. Last week you played the match in Big Sky, Montana. That was a bit of an idiosyncratic course. Did you feel that maybe on top of the fact that it was obviously charity and a bit of fun that there was a little bit of preparation for links-type course with the hills and the hilly greens and the slopey greens?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I wouldn’t say it was great preparation for links golf, but we raised a lot of money for charity. I think we delivered 6� million meals, which was amazing. So we did a lot for charity, and I think that was more of the reason why I did it and wanted to showcase myself in a unique light that people don’t usually get to see me in.

Because again, people think I’m this really hard-pressed person that demands everything out of everybody, and that’s not true. People think that’s the case, but for me I wanted to show a different side of me. I wanted people to see that there’s more to Bryson than just what meets the eye or what they think meets the eye.

Also, I would say from a slope perspective it was nice getting to see the greens and how slopey they were. That was kind of fun. I would say that the green speeds were 11 so it didn’t really relate to here, and the super huge slopes and the altitude adjustments didn’t help very much, so not much I can relate to that.

But it was certainly fun to give a lot back to charity and also just play a fun round of golf with some amazing athletes.

Q. How is it going with your caddie? And what are the unique challenges being teamed up with him for the first time at a major championship on a links course?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, it’s certainly throwing him into the deep end, like I showed on my Instagram post. He’s okay with it. He loves it. We’ve been doing really good together. It’s provided me an opportunity to be in a different state of mind with Brian. He’s a different individual and a very hard worker, somebody that I have high regard for and respect for as well as Tim.

I would say that he’s still learning the ropes a little bit, which is expected on any end when you have somebody new that’s really never caddied before, but I wanted somebody on the bag that I could trust as much as I did with Tim, and I think that’s why he fit the place so well.

It’s going to take probably a few weeks, but so far he’s done super well and I’m super proud of him for taking this role.

Q. There’s obviously a lot of talk about the funkiness of the fairways and the rough this week. You did mention the avoidance of three-putts. Is that a reference to the fact that these are quite severe greens on The Open rota?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, they’re definitely severe and you have to make sure you’re in the right areas relative to the pins. There’s a couple low areas that you can get yourself into that you’re hitting up 15 to 20 per cent slopes, and that can be quite treacherous and difficult trying to control speed.

And then having 60-, 70-, 80-footers on certain holes, for us guys over in America, we play on speeds that are around 11s and these are a little bit under that, and it makes for a little bit of a challenge that we all have to adjust to.

If I can adjust well and do the right things and control speed this week, not three-putting is going to be a huge key to winning this week.

Q. You referenced Tiger going to the irons off the tee, and you also said that the fairways are currently quite soft. If they get fiery at the weekend, is Tiger Woods’ approach something that’s in the back of your mind?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: A thousand per cent, no doubt. I think what he showcased is an awesome ability to play it on the ground, play links on the ground, which is the way it should be played I personally think, as well, albeit I do something completely different.

I have the utmost respect for that style of play. I think there’s certain advantages to hitting it long in certain places, but not everywhere. There will be certain holes where there is a lot of wind and you can’t really control the golf ball with that type of wind, where it bounces, how it bounces. So keeping it low and on the ground if it gets firm is definitely something I would utilise, yeah.

Q. You always come across as being a super confident person, but some of the criticism you get for being different, especially from Brooks, does it hurt?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Does it hurt what?

Q. Does it hurt you personally?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I think it makes it emotionally a little more difficult to, I would say, resolve that because in my heart of hearts, I really think I’m a great person and a really good person to be around, a kind person to be around.

It’s sometimes difficult, but at the end of the day you can just keep doing what you’re doing, and I think that’s why for me I’ve done a lot on social media, done a lot of YouTube series to showcase myself in a different light because I want people to see that side.

I think there’s a lot of greatness to that and also humbleness to that, as well. Showcasing that I am human and I did start pretty much from nothing. My parents were nice enough to give their whole lives to help me play golf. Played at a public golf course and country club every once in a while when I got the chance, but it was humble beginnings.

I hope people can realize if you work hard enough, you can be successful in life. That’s really my goal. And yes, at times it can be difficult, but at the same point in time, I’ve just got to keep pressing forward.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com

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Top Tours

US Open 2020: Bryson DeChambeau in his first Champion Interview

Bryson DeChambea at the US Open 2020 (Foto: Getty)
Bryson DeChambea at the US Open 2020 (Foto: Getty)

MODERATOR: We’re pleased to welcome champion of the 120th U.S. Open, Bryson DeChambeau. How does that sound?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Surreal. It sounds amazing, but surreal. It’s been a lot of hard work, and I got to say thanks to my whole team again, all my sponsors as well — Brett, Tim, my caddie works his butt off every single day for me. Connor works his butt off for me every single day. Chris Como works really, really hard for me and helps me think through a lot of amazing things. Even Mike Schy, I still talk to Mike, and we still talk about how to get better. I would be remiss if I didn’t say his name either.

It’s one of those things that doesn’t really hit you — it’s not going to hit me until tonight, but I will say that my parents have given so much up for me. I mean, there were times that I went to school without any lunch money, and we had to make bologna sandwiches and didn’t have anything to eat. We had some very, very difficult times, but every single day, they always wanted the best for me, and they always gave me the opportunity to go golf, go practice, and go get better.

This one’s for my parents. It’s for Mike Schy, it’s for Chris, it’s for my whole team. All the work, all the blood, sweat, and tears we put into it, it just means the world to me.

Q. It’s going to be hard to reflect on right now, but that moment when you putted in on 18 and you put your hands in the air, what was going through your mind?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I did it. I did it. As difficult as this golf course was presented, I played it beautifully. Even through the rough, I was still able to manage my game and hit it to correct sides of the greens, except on 14 today, and kept plugging away. My putting was immaculate today. My speed control, incredible. That’s why we worked so hard on my speed control. You see me out there on the greens with the device trying to control my speed.

It’s just something that allows me and gives me comfort to know that on this green, or these speeds of greens, you know, it’s going to be repeatable. It’s going to be this. It’s going to be that. It’s going to be comfort in knowing how far I can take it back and go through.

So many times I relied on science, and it worked every single time.

Q. Your fans and backers are very passionate in their support of you. What do you have to say to them right now?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I can’t say thank you enough for supporting me and staying with me through thick and thin. There’s always going to be people that say things. There’s always going to be people that do things. But no matter what, my focus and my message to everybody out there is each and every day that you’re living life try and make this day better than the previous day. Let today’s garbage be better than yesterday.

The fans that have always been there, the supporters that have always been there, I can’t thank you enough for everything that you have meant for me. You’ve kept me pushing the needle, moving the needle, and you’re going to keep inspiring me too. So I really thank you for everything. I couldn’t do it without you guys.

Q. Bryson, you said the T4 at the PGA felt like you were moving in the right direction, but with all of the chatter and all of the doubters, what is he doing, does this absolutely put you over the edge in terms of validating what you’ve done?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Absolutely. And I’m not going to stop. Next week I’m going to be trying a 48-inch driver. We’re going to be messing with some head designs and do some amazing with things with Cobra to make it feasible to hit these drives maybe 360, 370, maybe even farther. I don’t know.

Q. Given the way you’ve adopted this approach, do you feel like you’re potentially changing the game, or at least changing the way that people think about playing in the game?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I think I’m definitely changing the way people think about the game. Now, whether you can do it, that’s a whole different situation. There’s a lot of people that are going to be hitting it far. Matthew was hitting it plenty far today. A couple of putts just didn’t go in for him today and kept the momentum on my side. So he’s definitely got the firepower and the strength to do it. You’ve got to be looking out for him in the future.

There’s a lot of young guns that are unbelievable players, and I think the next generation that’s coming up into golf hopefully will see this and go, hey, I can do that too.

Q. Bryson, you very much do things your own way. What kind of mental strength do you take from that?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s a lot of validation through science, just making sure that the numbers are what they are and the result is accurate. So if I had — just an example. If I hit a 40-footer and it says 10.1 miles per hour on the device, I know that I’ve executed it correctly; and if I see the ball go two feet past that 40 foot mark, I know it’s perfect. I know I’ve done everything I can in my brain to make my perception reality.

So it’s all about trying to make my perception of what I feel, what I think, what I — you know, whatever it is, turn into proper reality. It definitely is validating that I’m able to execute time and time again and have it be good enough to win an Open. I don’t know if that answered your question.

Q. There’s so much talk about the driving and the distance and whatnot, but you did shoot the best score today by three, I believe. Do you feel like you’re proving, with a victory in a Major like this, on a golf course like this, even more so that you’re not just a one-dimensional player?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, I think I’ve got a lot of creativity. Phil said it to me earlier this week. He said, in 2006, I had the best short game week of my life, and that really stuck out to me for some reason because I just knew that, if I did hit it in the rough, I’m going to have to get it up and down quite a bit.

So I made sure that I needed to practice those shots coming into the week, and I did that beautifully, and I felt super comfortable out of the rough no matter the situation.

I mean, a perfect example was No. 14, uphill lie, just hit it off the top of the face, came out dead and rolled down there to ten feet, and I made it. That was huge. If I don’t make that and he makes his, you know, we’ve got a fight.

So, yeah, I think that answered your question. I don’t know. I’m just kind of rambling a little bit.

Q. It seems like the putting has really been on point.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yes. Yes, putting has been — sorry. I love it. The putting has gradually improved over the course of my career. I was dead last when I came out on TOUR, and the SIG guys, SIG golf, they helped me understand how a ball needs to roll in order to give me the best chance to hole a putt.

Over the course of these four years, every year I’ve gotten a little bit better. I’ve gotten in the top ten now. I don’t know how much better I can get, but I’m going to keep trying every single week.

Q. Bryson, you used your own approach to the game to get here. Do you think kids watching today are now going to follow in your footsteps and look at this approach and try to replicate that?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: You know, I hope I can inspire some people. My goal in playing golf and playing this game is to try and figure it out. I’m just trying to figure out this very complex, multivariable game, and multidimensional game as well. It’s very, very difficult. It’s a fun journey for me.

I hope that inspires people to say, hey, look, maybe there is a different way to do it. Not everybody has to do it my way. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying in general that there are different ways to do things. If you can find your own way, find your passion — like Arnie said, swing your swing. That’s what I do. That’s what Matthew Wolff does. That’s what Tiger does. That’s what Phil does. That’s what everybody does, and we’re all trying to play the best golf we can.

Hopefully, my way inspires people. This is my seventh win PGA TOUR, first Major, couldn’t be more proud. I hope that it does inspire a few people.

Q. Just for the record, what is your current height and weight?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: 6’1″, 230 to 235, depending on if I’ve eaten steak or not.

Q. Do you want to be bigger when you get to Augusta?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah.

Q. What would you say is your like — what are you shooting for?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I think I can get to 245. It’s going to be a lot of working out. I don’t think it’s possible — it may be, I don’t know. It’s just I’ve gained so much so quickly in a year. They always say, when you work out, you gain your 30 pounds or whatever it is, and then after that, each year, you half it. So you can go 15. If you keep working out every day, you keep halving it. And then eventually there comes a point where you can’t gain much more.

But I still feel like I can get up there if you work hard enough.

Q. What’s your answer to people who say it can’t be healthy for the body?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I am talking to a doctor. I got all my blood sample tests, everything back a couple weeks ago. Everything is fine so far. We’re going to keep monitoring it and making sure I’m as healthy as possible because I do want to live for a long time.

Q. Bryson, what drove you to the range in the cold and dark last night? What were you looking for, and what did you find?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: So my driver was not performing in the way I wanted it to. Thursday, Friday, I felt super comfortable with the driver. Saturday wasn’t comfortable. So I knew I needed to go to the range, figure something out, so I could play for tomorrow and be super comfortable because, if I’m comfortable with the driver, I knew I could play golf and shoot under par on this golf course.

I was able to find something out last night, and then on the 6th hole today, I figured out a little bit more, and that gave me the confidence to play for the rest of the day.

That was essentially — it’s all about the governors for me. I have a limit to kind of what I do with the swing so I don’t overrotate. You can see I missed a lot of shots left this week. My left arm wasn’t holding and being stable enough through impact. It was just rolling over. That’s why I was drawing it and hooking it a little bit.

So I worked on that yesterday, and on the 6th hole I figured out that, even though I was holding it off, my left arm was too bent. So I was still leading to where the face is way open to the target, and then I felt like I had to do that to close the face. So once I straightened that out, got the face back a little more square, I felt like I could hold it off the whole way, and gave me so much comfort for the rest of the round.

Q. I was going to ask you what’s for dinner right now?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Steak and potatoes. We’ve got to keep it going.

Q. Very simple, Bryson. What makes you the happiest right now?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I would say, first off, knowing that the team around me has worked just as hard as I have, if not harder, to get me to where I am today. And knowing that I was able to execute for 72 holes in a Major Championship under the toughest conditions and perform to the highest level.

Q. And that trophy?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, the trophy, obviously, is really nice that comes with it.

Q. This has got to be some form of validation in your head, you know?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: 100 percent, no doubt. For me, it’s about the journey of can I execute every shot more repeatably than everybody else? I was able to do that this week. That’s why I won by six, yeah.

Q. How do you explain how during a pandemic and what a lot of people are writing off as kind of a lost year, you’ve elevated your game this much?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I felt like it was an opportunity, not a lost year at all. I felt like it was an opportunity to do something great — change my lifestyle, make it healthier, make it better — and I hope it inspires everybody else to do the same. When you have time, when you have that little free moment, don’t squander it. Look at it as an opportunity to make yourself better.

That’s what I think I did this year, and I’m going to keep trying to do that.

Q. When you were a little kid starting out with this whole thing, was the U.S. Open one you wanted to win, or was it something else?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I would say any Major was the ones I — they were all ones that I wanted to win, but I knew that my game would fit best for a U.S. Open. The reason for that is I always felt growing up, in college, I was always a super straight driver of the golf ball, super great iron player. Putting was always iffy, but I knew I could get around it on fast, quick greens. I was always really good on quick greens.

I’ve become a great putter, and my ball striking has improved consistently, and now I’ve got an advantage with this length, and that’s all she wrote.

But, yes, growing up, the U.S. Open is the one I thought I could win the most.

Q. Bryson, I don’t mean to look past this accomplishment after a half hour, but have you thought about how you might game plan for Augusta National?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, length is going to be a big advantage there. I know that for a fact. It’s always an advantage pretty much anywhere, but given that fact, I’m going to try and prepare by testing a couple things with the driver. I mean, by that, it’s 48 inches, and I’ll also do something with the face to account for the new speed that I’m going at.

Then I’ve got to get better with my iron play a little bit. I felt like it was great today, but definitely the driver needs to go straighter. That’s really my main focus still.

Q. Bryson, if the USGA had a debriefing meeting tomorrow morning to talk about how this U.S. Open was won at Winged Foot, what do you think they’d talk about?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: He’s hitting it forever. That’s why he won. I mean, it was a tremendous advantage this week. I kept telling everybody it’s an advantage to hit it farther. It’s an advantage. Mark Broadie was talking to Chris Como, and they were both talking about how they just made the fairways too small this week to have it be an advantage for guys hitting the fairway.

So what I mean by that — let’s take an example of you going like a yard wide. Nobody’s got the fairway. Okay, length’s going to win. You make the fairways too wide, length’s going to win. There’s like this balance between widths of fairways and where they want to play it and where they’re going to try to make you play it.

Q. If distance has been such a hot topic over the last two, three years and they’re looking into it now, do you think this will accelerate any desire to rein you guys in?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s tough to rein in athleticism. We’re always going to be trying to get fitter, stronger, more athletic, and Tiger inspired this whole generation to do this, and we’re going to keep going after it. I don’t think it’s going to stop. Will they rein it back? I’m sure. I’m sure something might happen. But I don’t know what it will be. I just know that length is always going to be an advantage.

Q. How much is athleticism and how much is science, technology —

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, the COR was locked in back in 2000 or something like that. You could only have it come off the face so much, right? So it’s been that way ever since. The rules haven’t changed. People have just gotten a little longer with their driver. The shafts have become better for sustaining higher swing speeds, and we’re constantly trying to just hit it as hard as we possibly can.

Kyle Berkshire, Justin James, a bunch of those guys, Josh, they all inspired me to try and go harder at it. They are the ones breaking the barriers. I can see what is possible.

So that inspires me to keep pushing the limits. I don’t think that science is that — is as big of a role in the market today. I would say it’s more of athleticism playing probably a bigger role for that for sure.

I was hitting it — on just a normal average TOUR player a year ago, and then I all of a sudden got a lot stronger, worked out every day, been working out every day, and all of a sudden — not because of clubs, but because of me, I was able to gain 20, 25 yards.

MODERATOR: Bryson, our 120th U.S. Open champion, congratulations again.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Thank you all.

Categories
Top Tours

US Open 2020: Bryson DeChambeau with the best round of the day

US Open Golf 2020 Bryson DeChambeau (Source: Getty)
MAMARONECK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 18: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States lines up a putt on the 17th hole during the second round of the 120th U.S. Open Championship on September 18, 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Q. 2-under 68. Hard to come by red numbers today. What was working well for you?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I felt like a lot of things were working well for me. I was driving it well. My iron play was impeccable. When I got into trouble, wasn’t able to get out of it as well today as yesterday, but when I was in the fairway I was able to attack and take advantage, and finished really well today. I hit a great drive on 6, great drive on 8, great shot on 7, and a great drive on 9 that just set me up to be able to attack that flag today, and that was a fun way to finish off at a U.S. Open so far. It’s great.

Q. You said yesterday the key was missing the drivers in the right spots. Can you give me an example today of missing one in the right spot, missing one in the wrong spot?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Missed one in the wrong spot on 2, so I hit it to the right and just — you’ve got nothing. I tried to get over the tree, was too far back. Kind of spun one up in the air and really didn’t have a chance. I tried to go for it, didn’t come out, got lucky, it bounced back in the first cut, got it out.

And then another one, let’s see, 16. Hitting driver all the way up into the right rough past that dogleg, I still had pitching wedge to the front edge and it was just a pretty easy shot, and I left it short of the green but I was still able to play up to the flag, and I fortunately made that putt for birdie. So that was kind of where I felt like I missed it in the right spot.

Q. You followed up three bogeys with birdies today; how important do you think that bounce-back stat is here?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s important. It keeps your momentum going, I’ll tell you that. I don’t really have too much more to say on that other than the fact that you need momentum to keep playing well in a U.S. Open, and that’s what I was able to do today.

Q. One of the volunteers on the range today said you shut the place down last night. What was working for you today?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: So my wedges yesterday weren’t that good. I was flying them too far and I wanted to know what the problem was and we figured out what the problem was. It just was going farther than I thought it was. We didn’t practice them as well as I should have leading up to this tournament, but we made that adjustment, and it worked out beautifully for me today.

Q. What was the adjustment?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, it was just saying on the devices that I was hitting it shorter than what it was actually going. So for example, like we calibrated — okay, this is — I’m trying to make it as easy as possible. So for me, my 47-degree flies normally 145. Well, last night I was hitting shots and it was flying 155. That’s what we were on the normalizing mode with that wind. And we just didn’t calibrate correctly. So I was flying everything 10 yards long consequently with my wedges. And we recalibrated all of them today, and I felt like they worked out really well today.

Q. What did you hit on 9 for your second?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Pitching wedge.

Q. Only two rounds under par so far today. How does that play into your confidence for this weekend?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I feel great. Confidence is at an all-time high right now, driving it well, iron play is fantastic, wedging is getting better each and every day, and I’m putting it like I know I can. So very happy.

Q. What part of your game do you get more confidence from, your driving, iron play or putting?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Iron play. If my iron play is great, I feel like I can play from anywhere. I know my driver is going to be going far; sometimes straight, sometimes a little crooked. But if I can hit my irons really well, then I feel like I’ll be good for the rest of the day.

Q. Bryson, you were the one guy before the tournament who said you were just going to hit it as far as you could at every opportunity —

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: And straight. I still want to hit it straight.

Q. But the fact that you have that in your arsenal, do you think your round today just shows you get more — you create more birdie opportunities —

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Absolutely.

Q. — than anybody else out here?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Absolutely.

Q. When you look at the conditions, what kind of an advantage does that give you?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I want it to play as hard as possible. I feel like there’s so many holes out here that I can take advantage of that some people can’t. Now, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to win or anything. You’ve still got to execute, you’ve still got to hit the driver straight. If I’m hitting the driver far but all over the place, you can’t make birdies from the rough. It’s very difficult to. So I still have to work on hitting it straight while hitting it far. And that’s a unique combo that I’m going to strive for for the rest of my life.

Q. As far as scrambling, that seems like the other crucial component to have around here, so do you take as much from those times when you save par as —

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Absolutely. Phil gave me some great advice. He said when he almost won back in 2006, he said he had the best short game week of his life, so that’s just a testament to showing that you have to have a great wedge game out here.

I feel like my irons are great, the wedges are better, and short game needs to be worked on just a little bit. But I would say it’s been good so far, and that’s what I’m going to hopefully do this weekend.

Q. Wondering how hard it is to stay focused when you’re making a series of birdies and bogeys as opposed to steady pars.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it’s definitely ebbs and flows, but I’ve been working hard on that recently and trying to keep myself level-headed no matter what, and I feel like I did a great job of that today. Even on 5, made a dumb bogey, just didn’t play the right distance and consequently hurt myself there. And then on 6 I just focused up and I was able to stay patient and execute a great drive and make two great putts there.

Q. You mentioned in that TV interview that you want to be more and more patient. That’s something you can’t calibrate, to use your word. What does that process look like? How do you teach yourself that?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: For me it’s been a lot of breathing. Been working hard with Neuropeak on that for a long time. I know I’ve talked about it before, but just keep breathing and try and let the advantages play themselves out, what I have, and if they don’t, so be it.

But as of right now, they’ve been doing well so far, and just know that I’m going to have a lot of opportunities if I keep driving it well.

Q. Do you see a noticeable difference if you get something like what you might term an unlucky bounce or something like that?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s going to happen out here. I say it sometimes, like man, that was unlucky, but that’s just golf. It’s not me being other than just honest. It happens sometimes. I realize that and I’m okay with it. Everybody is subject to a bad break, and sometimes I wear the emotions on the sleeve a little bit, but I focus it right back up.

Q. The test yesterday, the test today, which one do you enjoy more and why?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: When I play well in these conditions, it’s a lot more enjoyable. But it is comforting yesterday when you feel like I can go after it and wind isn’t affecting it that much, I’m hitting it well.

I would personally say if I had to truly look back on it, I would say that this today is a more enjoyable test after I’m done because it shows who executed the shots the best for sure.

Q. So many people love to see carnage at a U.S. Open; why do you think that is, and were you one of them?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s relatable. I think it’s relatable to a lot of players out there. They struggle with their game and they don’t hit the greatest shots, and they like seeing carnage.

I’m going to look this afternoon and do the same thing, be seeing, like wow, that’s really difficult, because I experienced it and I appreciate it.

Q. Will you laugh or sympathize?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Sympathize. No, I’m not laughing at them. I won’t go there.

Q. Given the force that you play with, is it possible to impose your will on a U.S. Open?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: That’s a great question. That’s a question for the gods. That’s a question for God. I don’t know if you can — I mean, Tiger has been able to do something like that many times before, so I think there is something, but human scientific research does not say that there’s anything about that.

Q. Are there times you are trying to do that?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, yeah, yeah. It’s just got to go here, it’s just got to go here, and I think it’s more of a positive mindset that allows your brain to be in a better state so you can problem solve in your brain to know what you need to do to hit a shot. I think that’s kind of willing it.

Q. You mentioned breathing, right?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah.

Q. I think a lot of people struggle with that, who don’t play golf even, but how does it work for you?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: A lot of deep, long breaths. So it’s sitting back, realizing the state you’re in and being able to take an eight-second breath in and then eight-second breath out. That’s just as simple as it gets for me.

Q. Count to eight?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s somewhere around there. I don’t do it perfectly on eight, but it’s definitely just to calm myself down.

Categories
Team USA

Bryson DeChambeau: Is he ready for his first major title?

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 08: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States walks off as Patrick Reed of the United States watches his shot on the fourth tee during the third round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 08, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon. Welcome back to the 2020 PGA Championship here at TPC Harding Park. Pleased to be joined by Bryson DeChambeau who posted a third round of 66. He is currently 6-under par for the championship.

Bryson, these days known for your length, but it was a lengthy putt that your day ended on. Kind of a good note there. Take about that stroke.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I didn’t hit that great of a drive off the tee box. I thought the wind was more off the right and it just didn’t really help it back into the fairway. Got in the bunker. Had a really nicely. I just kind of chunked it a little bit. Came up a little short and you know walked it off, 96 feet. And I just said to myself, well, I think this line looks pretty good. We’ve been doing a lot of speed testing out there so I knew I had to hit it like 130 feet relative to all of our stuff and you know for me I just felt like I hit it 130 feet and I was able to start it on line and saw it kept going closer and closer to the hole and eventually dropped.

Those moments, you just have to look back and laugh and appreciate what the game is, because that stuff happens at random points in time in life, and this was a pretty good random moment to do it in (chuckling).

Q. Obviously it’s just an incredible leaderboard, logjam, you’re right there. I know this is probably a stupid question because of your love of math but I assume you’re a leaderboard watcher?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah.

Q. Here with no crowds, is that something you’ll do more than normal because there’s no other way to tell what other people are doing?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, you’re absolutely going have to. For me I’ve always looked at leaderboards and wanted to know exactly where I stand so I can make the best decisions on the holes that I play, and I try not to let it influence me too much but for the most part certain instances, you don’t need to go after a flag if it’s a really difficult flag and you’re one shot ahead or whatever. You’re going to make adjustments and hit shots based on where you are for sure.

Q. Following up on that, do you think 16 is probably the hole on the back nine where a tactical decision could be influenced by that information?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: 100 percent. Even today, I was city thinking still hit 3-wood or driver up to the right and chip it up over there, but I just didn’t want to have a ball get stuck in the tree or behind a tree. I said, you know, been wedging it better, get one in the fairway and get one down there and I was lucky enough to make an 18-footer.

Q. You mentioned having a calibration system. How high does that go?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, went to 130 feet there I guess. It’s more of a feel and perception I have about how hard I’m hitting it. But it goes to 100 feet on my ruler and I practiced that this morning and so I kind much got a gauge off of that and got a sense of how hard I needed to hit it.

Q. And you mentioned talking about kind of laying back. Is that hard to do?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yes.

Q. Given how far you’re hitting the ball?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yes. Very hard. But it’s a major championship so you have to be more tack my Cal. I said this week I felt like the rough isn’t that penalizing; well, it is now. It grew and they haven’t cut it, so that’s a major, right. I’ve been a little more tactical certain areas but I just feel like I have to clean up my iron play. I made some really dumb mistakes with my irons, and if I get that under control and drive it like I did, putt like I did, I think I’ll give myself a chance.

JOHN DEVER: Forgive me for having this, but is that putt, 95, 90 feet, is that as long as you’ve made one on TOUR?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s the longest I’ve ever made in any competition, ever.

JOHN DEVER: That qualifies.

Q. You were just talking about dialing back, and to play smart and how difficult that is sometimes. Are you sometimes, do you have to guard against being seduced by your length? I look at like as an example, Memorial when you went with the 3-wood near the end, because you know how far you can hit it, is there sometimes where you have to maybe be a little conscious of that because it could get you in trouble?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Absolutely. It’s just weighing the risk for the reward in certain areas, and maybe you have bunkers and water where I’m hitting it; it’s not necessarily worth it. Like 16 today, I didn’t really feel like it was worth it. If I hit it driver and actually left over the bunkers, it’s in the water and I have no chance to get it up-and-down. If I had a chance to get it up-and-down, that may have been a different story.

But I felt like I could just hit a 4-iron down there and hit it on the green and make a putt. And that’s what I he mean by being a little more tactical out here. To win major championships, on this golf course, at least, you have to be tactical.

Q. More of a big picture note. This is really where you stand right now, probably your best spot in a major going into a Sunday. What’s your emotion with that and how exciting is that for you?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I’m proud of myself that I’ve been able to change my body, change everything, and give myself a chance to win tomorrow. That’s something that I think is difficult to do when somebody goes and changes themselves, there’s usually a little struggle with that. So I really am blessed and proud that I’m able to be healthy and have the ability to compete for a major championship come tomorrow.

I’d also say, too, I’m looking forward to the other ones that are coming up because this is going to give me a lot of confidence.

Q. There’s a fair amount of youth on the board, guys chasing their first major. What is the effect of not having a crowd tomorrow on the Sunday after a major? Do you think that helps you comfort level-wise?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I think you’re right in that regard. It’s not the crazy roars that sometimes we hear, and albeit I have heard that before. I think I finished close to Top-20 at Augusta, or like Top-25 I think at Augusta my first year out there. So I experienced a little bit of it.

But I think for those other guys, definitely. I think it will definitely be a benefit for them that there’s no crowds, no roars going on.

Q. Back to the majors. Curious how you have grown as a golfer and a person from those experiences to give you the confidence to compete for the championship tomorrow?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: You know, I’d say the other majors, I’ve struggled, whether it be my game, just driving it not well, iron play not well, putting not well or whatever it was. It was just something I wasn’t comfortable with in majors; higher expectations. Sometimes I felt like I was playing good going into it and would get there and something would go off and then I’d get penalized based off of just the conditions at hand and not having everything in tiptop shape and for me, going into this year’s first major, I would say I was a little more confident just because I had won three or four weeks ago, can’t even remember how long it was ago.

And I’ve also been able to hit it a lot farther. Putting’s really good. Had a lot of confidence, and to be honest with you, Chris and I have been working pretty hard on some golf swing stuff and they have really started to pay off for me and I feel really confident with that and excited to keep testing it. This is the first major with this new body, new swing. I hope it’s only going to get better.

Q. You mentioned the randomness, the point in time of the putt on the last. Curious if you can think of another circumstance, maybe in a win, or something where you had a similar kind of quirky moment earlier in the week. And then secondly, the importance of the momentum of that, or is it just, again, just randomness, I guess?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, there’s definitely momentum in this game. I mean, you can see it with any player that’s out here, even with me. There’s up-and-downs, and you try and be as positive and stable as possible, and you know, sometimes there’s just things that happen where you can’t explain it.

Give you one other instance. I didn’t win or anything but it was as Riv, not this past year but the year before. I holed out twice, once on 13 and once on 17 in the same day. I just kept making shots from around the green, and then the next day, I made one on 14 on the par 3.

So there’s some times, there’s weeks where randomness occurs, and it just keeps occurring in a weird way. It’s like flipping — I don’t even know if this is the right example. But the only thing I can think about is flipping a quarter, and having it land on heads 12 times or something, the percentage of that, whatever that is. Just sometimes there’s things in golf that happens really weird, and that’s why I love golf.

As much as I try and bring it down to a science, I love it because of the randomness, because I’m trying to figure it out and sometimes those weird things happen, and good and bad, and you’ve just got to laugh them off.

Q. Growing up in Clovis, what’s your experience with TPC Harding Park, and being a northern California guy, what would it mean to win your first major championship kind of in your backyard?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Can you ask the first question again? I was thinking about the second one, because yes, it would be amazing to win in my backyard. Ask the first one again, please.

Q. Your experience at TPC Harding Park.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, so I played here 2012 or 2011. I think it was 2012 or 2011 for a sectional qualifier for the U.S. Open near Olympic Club. What was it, 2012 I think? Yeah, Olympic.

I was close. I missed it by like two or three or something like that. So I played this golf course and I loved it. I thought it was a great golf course. Happened to be that we were playing it this year and I was super excited to come here and play well here again. And to win in my backyard would be something I could only dream of. Monterey and then I’d also say San Fran, this area, played a lot of NCGA junior tour events around here and there’s so many great golf courses. It would just be a tremendous honor to win. I don’t even know what that would mean to me other than more than the world, I would say. It would be really cool because there’s been a lot of people in NCGA that have helped me become the person I am, and it would be cool to go down there if it was to happen and bring the trophy down to Monterey and hang out with the guys that helped me get here.

Q. Mentally, emotionally, tonight and heading into tomorrow, as you go through the preparation, will you allow yourself to think about winning and holding that Wanamaker Trophy?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No. No. I won’t, at all. That’s a great question. For me, it’s about the process, and I’ll be thinking about the shots and executing the right shots and putting myself in the right position to win. If I give myself a couple shots going into the back nine, being that close to the lead or even hopefully up at the top of the leaderboard, that’s the goal that I’m looking for, and it’s these small intermediate goals that every single hole is going to probably be changing, but then going back to executing every shot the best I possibly that. That’s really what I’ll be thinking about tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
PGA Tour Top Tours

PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeaus pre round interview prior to the Travelers Championship

Bryson DeChambeau prior to the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship. (Photo: Getty)
Bryson DeChambeau prior to the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship. (Photo: Getty)

Bryson DeChambeau talks to the media prior to the start of the Travelers Championship 2020 on the PGA Tour.

PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau pre-round interview

THE MODERATOR: I’d like to welcome in Bryson DeChambeau to our virtual press conference here at the Travelers Championship. You’re coming off a T8 at the RBC Heritage last week and you’re going for your sixth consecutive top-10 finish of the season. Can you talk about the confidence in your game right now and what has allowed you to play so well.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I think my golf swing, the ability to repeat motion has increased over the past year, and even through quarantine as I gained speed, I figured out some cool little things that allowed me to repeat motion a little more consistently. It doesn’t mean it happens all the time, but it’s definitely been a lot more lately.

Q. I just wonder, how do you characterize these two weeks because you’ve been knocking on the door for two straight weeks here. Obviously haven’t crossed the line you want to cross, but where is this on the level of positive, and I have a follow-up question after this.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I think this golf course suits me a little bit better. I can use the length to my advantage on the front nine and there’s a couple holes on the back nine I can do the same. It was pumping into the wind today on 12, I still got it down the hill over the bunkers. 13, I hit driver, 5-iron in. And so for me — well, on 15 I hit hybrid. 17, I tried to go for the green out here. I got it over when I achieved 198-mile-an-hour ball speed, but it’s just not worth it. But it was fun trying to attempt to do things that I just never thought were possible.

Q. The first two weeks have been pretty challenging with your added length because of the fact that it’s been so tight and with doglegs and whatnot. Do you feel is it a little more liberating out here as you just played this practice round, for kind of letting it go a little bit?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I definitely feel like I can let it go a lot more. Like I said, on 17, I just thought I’d give it a go and give it a rip, and I was able to get it over after like three or four tries. But it’s not worth it, obviously. I’d have to achieve 200- to 205-mile-an-hour ball speed every time to be able to hit it over with that wind. So I’m still going to play it normally. But it’s fun attempting to do things that I’ve never done before, and having iron shots into holes that just didn’t even make sense to me a year ago, there’s no way I could do that. So it’s a different golf course for me this year. I feel like it suits me pretty well, and hopefully I can take advantage of those holes that I can hit it really far on.

Q. What’s your level of confidence that you’re going to turn one of these into a win at some point? Obviously the last few weeks you’ve been there.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I’m just going to keep giving myself chances. I play it as a numbers game. I keep giving myself opportunities, it’s eventually going to happen. And shoot, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m obviously not doing something right at that point, so I’ve got to figure out how to be more consistent in whatever it is that’s going to allow me to get over that edge. But right now I’m just playing a numbers game trying to be the casino.

Q. Everyone is asking you about your driving, rightfully so, but I’m actually curious about your putting because in the space of one off-season a few years ago you jumped from 145th on TOUR to 32nd, and you’ve kept it there in that vicinity. It’s sort of this amazing breakthrough, and I’m just curious what went into that change from your perspective? What did you begin working on? What was the shift that you underwent that you decided I need to sort of solve this problem and then you did?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, so it was a lot of understanding how to launch the ball off the green, and we used some devices that allowed me to understand how to get the ball rolling in a better way, and then going to arm lock really helped me control my starting lines a lot more consistently than any other method that I’ve ever used. So that combination. Also hitting my putts two feet past the hole, not trying to die it in, those three things just allowed me to reach this new level and gain this confidence, and I guess you could say this sensitivity to error that’s in this higher level where I just feel like I’m less sensitive to error, and it just allows me to be more consistent over the course of time. So it’s been those three things, and the SIK putter has helped a lot, the DLT technology, having a really stiff shaft, LAGP, obviously I’ve got the big shaft in it now, and we’re just still trying to improve it and make it more stable, more consistent so it comes on line every single time the way I want.

Q. I’m just asking about a lot of guys had an option and a chance to play one of their early starts as a pro or even as an amateur at the Travelers. I know it was further in for you but you are one of those young guns they’ve given a chance in the past and they continue to do so. Could you talk about in general getting those early chances and what that means to a young guy’s career?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It’s massive. I don’t know if I’d be here without those starts. I obviously wouldn’t. I mean, getting those seven starts or however many starts I got allowed me to get to the Web.com finals immediately, and that was massive. I went and won my first Web.com event, and the rest is history from there.

But having that start, that little jump start I guess you could say, not having to qualify, not having to Monday qualify through those qualifiers was big for me to be able to have a consistent opportunity out here. It allowed me to gain more knowledge, more understanding about what to do, how the weekend feels, getting to meet my heroes and go, okay, they’re just people, let’s just play. Just getting comfortable out here was a big deal, and those seven starts were instrumental in my success.

Q. The idea of picking a potential young up-and-coming star, do you think it’s a good future thing for the TOUR itself?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Absolutely. It’s definitely a way to keep it young, first off, and I’d also say give it to kids that are willing to try and be the best. You look at their career and you look — or you look at what they’ve done, and you go, okay, these guys have succeeded in this amount of events. Let’s give this guy an exemption because he deserves it. Not because of some play on — there’s a bunch of other things that happened, obviously, that I won’t talk about, but give a kid that’s willing to work hard, willing to try and be the best that opportunity, that was me growing up, and I can’t thank everyone that gave me an exemption enough because I wouldn’t be here without them.

Q. Bryson, we’ve seen the hours you’ve put in on the golf course, and I’m guessing it’s probably just a tiny fraction of what you actually do. My question is are you — not that you’re worried, but how do you prevent burnout? I’m talking about short-term. It’s got to be tiresome.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Burnout for me is when I don’t have anything else more to learn in the game of golf, and I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. The reason why people get burned out is because they don’t feel like they have in the hope to go forward or keep going forward or there’s no inspiration for them to keep moving forward. I still have not reached No. 1 in the world, I still have not won a major. I hope to achieve those goals soon. When those goals hit, does that mean I’m going to give up? No, not at all. There’s still a lot more room for improvement. For me, I want to try and be — that’s, again, why I went on this journey of hitting it far because it did get boring for me for a little while, and I said, you know what, I need to make it interesting; I need to spice things up for myself. I was able to do that in the off-season and then during the quarantine. That prevented me from getting tired of the game. Definitely people have talked about that to me, but for me, when I stop learning is the day I’ll obviously burn out I feel like.

Q. When people have talked about Tiger changing his swing four times after winning majors, I get a sense you can relate to that.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I haven’t won a major yet, but —

Q. Except for that part, yeah.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: But yes, I’ve won five times. I’ve changed my golf swing somewhat dramatically from a swing speed perspective. I’ve retained most of the alignments that I have in my golf swing, so you can still see faint images of when I was younger of what I used to do. Look, it’s always a pursuit to get better, and I feel like I understand why Tiger kind of did what he did because he always wanted to be better. He just did, and that’s him. He’s such a competitive guy and wants to kick the crap out of everybody, that I think he wanted to spice things up and see if he could get even better. That’s what I’m trying to do. Whether it plays out or not, I don’t know, I’m just giving it my best.

Q. Simple question for you: What are your goals for this season?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: My goals, for sure I want to get to over 195 at least one time on TOUR. I think that would be pretty cool, for ball speed. I’d also say winning a major, winning multiple times this season, having a chance to win the FedExCup. Those are all goals that everybody aspires to, but for me, at the end of the day, I’m just going to try to do my absolute best every single day. That’s what I’ve said from day one, and I’ll stick to it, but there are long-term goals out there for sure.

Q. I know with the single length clubs you thought that might be something revolutionary, and it really — I don’t think it has achieved what you thought would happen —
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, that’s your perspective.

Q. Right. You know, you’re still the only one on TOUR using them —
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, absolutely. Well, look, here’s the reason. I personally think everybody that’s on TOUR has had great success using what they’ve done, building their game with their clubs, totally cool. I don’t think that I foresee one-length clubs changing — being consistent on the PGA TOUR for a little while. The reason I say that is it’s going to take a generational shift. You’re going to have to give these clubs to kids and they’ll experience how much easier it is to start out that way and to play the game in that manner. If you give them variable length clubs after that, they’re going to be like what am I doing, why am I playing with these different clubs. But because it’s been the social norm for so long, it’s just — this is the bleed-out on the TOUR. This is what you see. It’s a result of that.

So it’s going to take 20, 30 years before you see a lot more people having success with it that are playing on TOUR and staying on TOUR.

Q. But how about with what you’ve done with your body? Do you think a lot of players, there will be a lot of copycats who starts trying to do what you’ve done to gain speed and distance?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I’m sure there will be people trying to do it. I’m not one to speak in another person’s space. I can only speak for myself. And when I say that I’m going to keep pushing the limits, I’m going to keep doing that. I’m going to see how far, how fast I can get and how straight I can hit it. As a result of what I’ve done, I think it’ll affect some people. I still think at the end of the day, people are going to be like, I just want to play my own game, do my own thing and do my best with it. I think a result 10, 20 years down the road, 100 percent there’s going to be a lot of people that are hitting it close to 400 yards, there’s no doubt.

Q. Do you plan to play both weeks at Muirfield?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Not right now. I just plan to play the Memorial, the second week, as of right now.

Q. Just wondering your thoughts on how they could make the place look different or be a little different from week to week.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: That’s a great question. I do not know that answer. I’m sorry. I wish I could give you an answer there.

Q. I’m curious if over the years, I know you were just mentioning that you’ve changed your swing around a lot, but have you ever had one swing thought that you found yourself continuing to go back to over time, something that’s kind of worked for you? I know you talk a lot about end range of motion stuff, how it relates to that.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, and I didn’t come up with that stuff until later, until the past couple years. But one of the things that’s been consistent throughout my career has been this ulnar deviation or unhinging sort of thing. I’ve always believed in that. I just felt like I could square the face way easier that way. There’s a lot of physics that does prove that to be true. But that’s been my biggest thing in life is trying to reduce variables, and I felt like this was a big one, the ulnar deviation, being able to control the radius of the club and where it’s at in the course of the ground. So I just feel like I’ve been really good with that.

THE MODERATOR: Bryson, what are your thoughts on the PGA TOUR honoring the front-line and healthcare workers through the caddie bib program?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, it’s amazing what they’re doing. They are the people that have allowed us to play out here, and we are grateful to have them, and I’ve had a couple the past couple weeks and read through them, and last week Mrs. Keller had six years of service, and that’s certainly inspirational. I haven’t even been out here for six years. So definitely an inspiration every week, and I get to read over it and play for them. It’s pretty cool.

Q. I think it was Hogan, and you would know, who once said, Every day you don’t spend practicing, someone else is getting better.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: That’s right.

Q. So in the early stages of the pandemic, did you find yourself checking other states’ state-at-home orders to see if anyone had an edge over you?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I wasn’t checking other states, but I knew that if I could start working out my body every single day, I’d be better the next day, and other people would be behind. I knew that people — not everybody was working out every single day, and I thought that if I could do that every single day through quarantine, I’d come back a different person, and I did, and I hope that it’s given me an edge. I think it’s given me an edge. I’m going to keep continuing to work out every day and just see where it leads me. But for sure that’s one of my favorite quotes in life. Every day you aren’t practicing is another day somebody else is getting better than you.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time, Bryson, and good luck this week.

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Team USA

PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau Recaps T4 Finish at 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 08: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States checks his yardage book on the second green during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 08, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Bryson Dechambeau speaks with the media following the conclusion of the final round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in which he finished in solo 4th place, 3 strokes behind the winner.

PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau talks Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship Prep

Q. Gutsy shot out of the rough there at 18. I said on the air this 13-footer’s not going to be short. It was dead in the heart, the big upper cut when it went in. How much fun was that finish for you?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, you know, I was trying to hit it in the fairway, obviously, and that was my goal. Unfortunately, I blocked it right. Just lost, in the last few holes today, there was a few holes where it just went right on me and I wasn’t really totally comfortable with the driver like I was the first three days. And I was lucky enough to get a really good lie in the right rough and I said, You know, what, I can go for it. And I was trying to go over the green into the rough and try and chip it or something like that. And I absolutely blocked the heck out of it. It came out a little dead, and I’m like, This is going in the water. And luckily it bounced a yard over and rolled up there perfectly and had a 13-footer and I took advantage of the good situation.

Q. A couple notes. There’s only been five birdies yesterday and today at 18. You got two of them. You’re the first player to post an under par round today. How difficult was it again today?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Oh, man, I mean, this definitely tested every aspect of your game and you had to be driving it well. I think I drove it pretty well this week, besides a couple holes out here today. And for me that’s a true testament of how hard I’ve been working on my driving to get it right, and then iron play is getting slowly better, and putting, I’m still not there with. I had two 3-putts today and that really was the deciding factor for the total round of shooting a deep one out there today. But at the same point in time, I’m going to take a lot of good positives away from this and go into the PLAYERS with some great momentum.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard

Q. Your confidence level, state of your game as you go to the PLAYERS this coming week.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: We’re going to work on some wedging stuff. I didn’t wedge it my best this week. Had a couple oopsies on the first couple rounds. And the putter, doing something pretty unique with the putter next week. Hopefully it will come in and we’ll have it ready and that will get me up to another level.

Q. Excellent way to cap off a challenging week. If we can get some comments.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Challenging is an understatement. It was difficult. Everybody out here, I think struggled in some facet or another, and you just had to overcome some of those obstacles. And I was able to get a couple good breaks coming down the stretch and played some really good golf and rolled it really well. When the opportunities presented itself, I took advantage as much as possible and had a couple lucky putts go in. I’m happy about that.

Q. When you take a look at the leaderboard not a lot of Americans are on there, top of the leaderboard, but you’re there. What’s been, do you think there’s an issue right now with kind of the —
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I don’t know. I don’t think it’s an issue. I think it’s just a different style of play. And personally, for me, I’m all about having a fair test. If you look at a situation and you go, Okay, how do you test — let’s just take this for example. Who is the smartest person in the world? How do you make a test for that, right? Well, you certainly don’t give them a test that’s 2 plus 2. And you certainly don’t give them something that we don’t understand yet, like how — what is gravity? So we need to have a fair test out there and I think that’s what we’re kind of struggling with a little bit. I think a lot of players struggled with that out there today, that just, there was some holes you just couldn’t hold greens. Like on 15 I hit a wedge shot from the intermediate or the first cut, and it bounced in the first half of the green and rolled all the way over the back. There was no way of stopping it. So at some point the physics stop working and I don’t think it’s a true test of who is better. You have to get a little lucky out there and I was fortunate enough to get lucky out there on the back nine. I was pleased with the way I held my attitude and I was able to be positive out there and just keep executing good shots.

Q. Did you kind of, you guys, the Americans, kind of talk about how just how the game’s kind of evolved? I mean, it’s always been kind of a global game but lately you seem to have more Europeans, like Sungjae Im and these younger Koreans. Do you guys kind of talk about just kind of how the game’s kind of grown, how you kind of get like the Americans involved a little bit more?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I think we’re still involved. You look at the top-10 in the world, there’s still quite a bit of Americans in there. And the style of golf is sometimes difficult. If you got, if you have Europeans out there that have been playing links-style golf, this is more like links-style golf, so they’re going to be more comfortable out there. And for me I do like links-style golf, so I was able to play well out there today. But to get Americans back on the leaderboard I think is just a coincidental thing, I think we’re just as good.

Q. Do you go to Sawgrass next week looking for a bit of respite after these days or do you think it’s going to be much the same another sort of torture test?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I hope it’s not a torture test. We have had some grueling tests over the last couple weeks at least the guys from Honda they told me it was brutal. And for me I hope it’s a good test, I hope it’s a fair test.

Q. How big was that shot on 18?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Oh, I totally blocked it. I thought it wasn’t going to get over. Look, I was a yard over the first cut and you got a wind that’s doing this, you just, you don’t know. It was complete luck and I’m happy it got over and I’m happy I was able to take advantage of the situation.

Orlando, Florida

March 8, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Team USA

PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau Talks Outstanding Putting Performance in Round 1 of the WGC Mexico Championship

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 20: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States checks his yardage book on the 18th hole during the first round of the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec on February 20, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Bryson DeChambeau addresses the media following an opening round 68 at the WGC Mexico Championship. DeChambeau is currently 3 shots off the lead after round 1.

PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau speaks with the media following his opening round at the WGC Mexico Championship

Q. If you look at your numbers, you had 119 feet in holed putts here in round 1. That is outstanding.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Thanks. It was a little different than last year. Again, I feel like I’m rolling it well. I rolled it well at Riv, just putts didn’t drop there, and today they dropped quite a bit, and hopefully I’ll keep that momentum going.

Q. I saw you warming up with a teaching aid on the shaft of your putter. Tell me about that.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, shoot, I even forgot the name, but it’s essentially just a laser, and I put it on a chalk line and I just stroke it and make sure my face path is proper.

Q. Did the wind and altitude really affect the golf today?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s a very difficult day to play golf. Rory shooting 6-under is doable. I didn’t capitalize on a couple of key holes and messed up on a few easy holes, but overall it was a difficult golf course to play today, and again, it’s about hitting a lot of fairways out here and hitting greens, and if you hit the driver straight and you’re hitting it long, it’s even more of a benefit.

Q. You’re putting so well. Same greens as last week. I’m sure growing up in California you like these types of greens —
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No.

Q. You don’t?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, I played on perfect bent at River Bend. It’s now called Dragonfly. They were the most perfect greens in Central Valley, so I was accustomed to really good greens, actually, surprisingly. When I went over to Monterey I didn’t have the right loft or anything, and I would consequently putt really bad, and it actually made me feel like I was a bad putter growing up, and it was part of the reason why I struggled with a bunch of my stuff in college, and then I realized there was a better way to putt. I think it just allows me a little bit more comfort, and I’m putting well doing what I’m doing and have the right launch out there, and it’s nice, too, with being able to tap down spike marks. That helps a lot. So utilizing that, which is appropriate — you should be able to do that. If nobody else was there and you were just putting, you wouldn’t have that. That’s nice to be able to do that.

Made a couple good putts — long one on 3. I couldn’t believe I made it. I hit a 9-iron in the bunker, plugged that far into the ground. I did not think I was going to get out of it, go down to the green and made a 45-footer. That was a great way to start the day.

2020 WGC Mexico Championship Full Leaderboard

Q. Also I noticed your assistant holding a towel —
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s just to see the line. It’s literally just to see the line. If not it’s a little difficult to see in the light. It’s an even more powerful laser but then it becomes illegal through federal law. Can’t do that.

Q. How difficult did the wind make this golf course today?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Twice as hard. Twice as hard. I felt like I played some incredible golf. I made a couple mistakes, didn’t birdie 12, didn’t birdie 1, bogeyed 16, bogeyed 10. You flip those, I’m leading.

Q. What makes putting on these greens whether it’s here or last week, what’s the challenge?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s just the inconsistency of the roll, unfortunately. I think they’re better than last year, but it’s one of those things, isn’t it a weed or something like that, and so it’s just difficult. It doesn’t grow even, so you’ve got some spots that are a little splotchy. Hey, that’s the grow of the green. It’s literally the way it works.

Mexico City, Mexico

February 20, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports