Opinion & Analysis
Bryson DeChambeau, the next American golf superstar
Working with competitive junior golfers has been a cornerstone of my business for a quarter century. Consequently, I’ve been fortunate to have either coached or been exposed to innumerable great young golfers over the years. Many of them have ultimately gone on to play collegiately and professionally.
Part of that exposure comes from the fact that for two decades, my club has hosted one of the premier junior golf tournaments in Northern California, with players coming from around the region to test their mettle against some of the best. With so many good, young players coming through our facility over the years, I like to think I’ve developed a pretty keen insight into the differences between those who ultimately become the great ones and those who don’t. And while I’ve seen a lot of really good kids come and go, there are a handful who left an impression that still stands.
The first time I saw this one particular kid was about a decade ago. I was out checking on a few students who were playing in that big junior tournament when I came upon a group of younger kids approaching our 15th hole, a tough par-4 with an incredibly difficult green that might be appropriately described as an escapee from Pinehurst No. 2. For some strange reason, I decided to wait just behind the green for their approach despite the fact that the group was more than 150 yards away and they were kids from the boys 10 and 11 division, a group unlikely to hit the green from that distance even if they had it teed up with a driver. The last kid to hit was easily a gimme putt short of 5-feet tall, but the longest off the tee. When he played his approach, I remember thinking, “Great swing.” “Wow,” I said a few moments later as the ball dropped softly on the green and rolled up to within 3 feet. That kid went on to win the event comfortably that day. His name was Bryson DeChambeau.
A decade later, DeChambeau has stormed onto the golf public’s consciousness in a way that few promising young golfers have in recent memory. Armed with ample personality and an NCAA Individual Championship — as well as a U.S. Amateur Championship in 2015 — the kid from Clovis, California, plays unconventional irons cut all to the same length, wears a throwback Hogan-style cap and models his swing after theories put forth in “The Golfing Machine” (an out-of-print book from the 1960s written by a Boeing engineer who didn’t even play the sport), DeChambeau hopes to impact the game in a way similar to a couple of guys named Arnie and Jack.
Now some roll their eyes at comments like that, but DeChambeau is backing it up. In just a couple of weeks, he’s gone from the quirky reigning U.S. Amateur Champ to one of the most talked-about players in the game thanks to an impressive finish in the Masters. And if not for a couple of successive head-scratching drives on No. 18 on Friday, he might have found himself playing in the final group on the weekend and threatening to be the first amateur to ever win The Masters.
And what did he do for an encore? Well, just turn professional, sign mega endorsement deals with Cobra/Puma and Bridgestone, and make his professional debut in the RBC Heritage Classic at Hilton Head, finishing in fourth place despite putting poorly throughout the event. It was an impressive debut to say the least, but if he made as many putts inside 15 feet as eventual winner Branden Grace did, he could have won his first career start as a professional outright by five shots.
A lot has been said already about DeChambeau’s mad scientist approach to the game (he majored in physics at SMU), his big personality (have you seen his Carl Spackler from Caddyshack impression?) and his old-school sense of style, but somewhat lost in all of that is the fact that there is at least as much substance to the kid as style, and at the moment, he’s navigating near-uncharted waters competitively.
Only four players have previously won an NCAA Championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year: Ryan Moore, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. That’s walking in tall cotton. And how did each fare in their first Masters? Only Moore bested DeChambeau’s tie for 21st, finishing in 13th place, but he was never in contention. Mickelson and Woods finished 47th and 41st, respectively, and the esteemed Mr. Nicklaus actually missed the cut.
What about their professional debuts? Moore tied for 51st in the 2005 Westchester Classic and took more than a year to crack the top-5 in any event. Mickelson debuted with a 68 in the ’92 U.S. Open, but followed that up with an 81 and missed the cut. Tiger, while earning a win fairly quickly (his fifth start in Las Vegas), finished an uninspiring 60th at the Greater Milwaukee Open in his first event as a pro. And Jack? Nicklaus finished in a tie for last place out of all 50 players making the cut at Rancho Park in the 1962 Tour opener, making a whopping $33.33.
If you’re paying attention, this means DeChambeau has done nothing less than kick off his professional career in a fashion that didn’t just eclipse the only other four to have accomplished what he did last year by winning the NCAA and U.S. Amateur in the same season, but in a far better fashion than Mickelson (one of golf’s biggest superstars of he past two decades), as well as Woods and Nicklaus, the two players who are arguably the best the professional game has ever seen.
Now with those competitive credentials, DeChambeau arrives on the scene with plenty of credibility, but it is really his story, his personal style and his ample personality that sets him apart from the hordes of good young automatons who come along in our sport each day. And whether or not the golf-consuming public realizes it, we crave creativity, personality, individuality, and story, especially when it is backed up with substance, but often even when it isn’t.
We admired Jack, with his nerves of steel and incredible record, but we loved Arnie and his wild lash at the ball and swash-buckling style. We marveled at Woods and mostly cheered his dominance, but never warmed up to him the same way that we did (and still do) to Mickelson with his bewildered smile, amazing short game and ever-present potential for a train wreck. We love (and hate) Bubba, with his name, his pink driver, his home-made swing, prodigious drives and penchant for putting his foot in his mouth now and then, too. And now and then we even still cheer for John Daly, maybe not as loud, but far more than we would for any other player with a similar playing record because of his colorful persona.
Now if you need one last bit of proof, then look no further than another young player who arrived on the scene a few years ago with plenty of personality and style — DeChambeau’s Cobra/Puma stablemate Rickie Fowler, who garnered far more of the spotlight and far bigger galleries at every Tour stop than you could argue his playing credentials merited until his win at The Player’s Championship just last year.
Now of course, all this doesn’t mean young Bryson won’t have his ups and downs, and this is only the beginning of his young story. We’ve seen time and again that the golf world often dubs someone the next Jordan, the next Nicklaus, or the next Tiger, and the pressure becomes an unwelcome burden that stunts, stalls or even kills a career. So I caution us all to temper our enthusiasm and not only enjoy what he’s doing at the moment, but to let him enjoy it as well without being hyper-critical.
Most 22-year-old kids aren’t in a position to charter a private jet home after their first week on the job (DeChambeau did), and he’s bound to make a few missteps here and there. And since he hasn’t even won his first event yet, predicting that he is going to be the next this or that may sound a bit premature… but consider the following. If you’re not sold yet, and I think you just might start to agree with why I think we are witnessing the the next big chapter in professional golf.
You see, I forgot to mention it to this point, but there’s one more thing we like in players: humility.
About half dozen years ago, I was posting scores on the scoreboard during that same premier junior event when I was handed Bryson DeChambeau’s scorecard. An 81. I was more than a little surprised. And so was he. He was a much more accomplished player by that point, fresh off playing in the Junior World Championships, and it wasn’t the type of score he was used to shooting.
Now, my club is an extremely challenging golf course, and I’ve been witness to more than a few accomplished young players coming through here and shooting rounds that didn’t quite meet their expectations. These are the kind of rounds we call “trunk slammers,” where players turn their scorecard in with a perfunctory thanks, throw the clubs in the trunk and storm off in a huff not waiting around to even see who won.
What did the kid from Clovis do?
While obviously a bit disappointed in his performance, he hung around and chatted with all the other players, sympathizing with them on how tough the course had played that day, and was nothing short of polite and approachable to everyone. It may have been just a little thing, but it sticks out when you’ve been around as many good young players as I have in the past quarter century.
All of that is why I think when people look on these past couple of weeks in pro golf, they’re not just going to remember them as the downfall of American golf’s current superstar, Jordan Spieth, when he gave away the Masters. I think they’re going to look back and remember the birth of the next American superstar, a kid from Clovis, California, named Bryson DeChambeau.
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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.
As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.
The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.
Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:
Mis-aligned hands
By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.
The position of the grip in the upper/left hand
I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.
To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.
Too much lower (right) hand on the club
It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.
Gripping too tightly
Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.
So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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As the Florida swing comes to an end, the PGA Tour makes its way to Houston to play the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course.
This will be the fourth year that Memorial Park Golf Course will serve as the tournament host. The event did not take place in 2023, but the course hosted the event in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Memorial Park is a par-70 layout measuring 7,432 yards and features Bermudagrass greens. Historically, the main defense for the course has been thick rough along the fairways and tightly mown runoff areas around the greens. Memorial Park has a unique setup that features three Par 5’s and five Par 3’s.
The field will consist of 132 players, with the top 65 and ties making the cut. There are some big names making the trip to Houston, including Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala.
Past Winners at Memorial Park
- 2022: Tony Finau (-16)
- 2021: Jason Kokrak (-10)
- 2020: Carlos Ortiz (-13)
In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value).
Key Stats For Memorial Park
Let’s take a look at several metrics for Memorial Park to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds:
Strokes Gained: Approach
Memorial Park is a pretty tough golf course. Golfers are penalized for missing greens and face some difficult up and downs to save par. Approach will be key.
Total Strokes Gained: Approach per round in past 24 rounds:
- Tom Hoge (+1.30)
- Scottie Scheffler (+1.26)
- Keith Mitchell (+0.97)
- Tony Finau (+0.92)
- Jake Knapp (+0.84)
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee
Memorial Park is a long golf course with rough that can be penal. Therefore, a combination of distance and accuracy is the best metric.
Total Strokes Gained: Off the Tee per round in past 24 rounds:
- Scottie Scheffler (+0.94)
- Kevin Dougherty (+0.93)
- Cameron Champ (+0.86)
- Rafael Campos (+0.84)
- Si Woo Kim (+0.70)
Strokes Gained Putting: Bermudagrass + Fast
The Bermudagrass greens played fairly fast the past few years in Houston. Jason Kokrak gained 8.7 strokes putting on his way to victory in 2021 and Tony Finau gained in 7.8 in 2022.
Total Strokes Gained Putting (Bermudagrass) per round past 24 rounds (min. 8 rounds):
- Adam Svensson (+1.27)
- Harry Hall (+1.01)
- Martin Trainer (+0.94)
- Taylor Montgomery (+0.88)
- S.H. Kim (+0.86)
Strokes Gained: Around the Green
With firm and undulating putting surfaces, holding the green on approach shots may prove to be a challenge. Memorial Park has many tightly mowed runoff areas, so golfers will have challenging up-and-down’s around the greens. Carlos Ortiz gained 5.7 strokes around the green on the way to victory in 2020.
Total Strokes Gained: Around the Green per round in past 24 rounds:
- Mackenzie Hughes (+0.76)
- S.H. Kim (+0.68)
- Scottie Scheffler (+0.64)
- Jorge Campillo (+0.62)
- Jason Day (+0.60)
Strokes Gained: Long and Difficult
Memorial Park is a long and difficult golf course. This statistic will incorporate players who’ve had success on these types of tracks in the past.
Total Strokes Gained: Long and Difficult in past 24 rounds:
- Scottie Scheffler (+2.45)
- Ben Griffin (+1.75)
- Will Zalatoris (+1.73)
- Ben Taylor (+1.53)
- Tony Finau (+1.42)
Course History
Here are the players who have performed the most consistently at Memorial Park.
Strokes Gained Total at Memorial Park past 12 rounds:
- Tyson Alexander (+3.65)
- Ben Taylor (+3.40)
- Tony Finau (+2.37)
- Joel Dahmen (+2.25)
- Patton Kizzire (+2.16)
Statistical Model
Below, I’ve reported overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed.
These rankings are comprised of SG: App (24%) SG: OTT (24%); SG: Putting Bermudagrass/Fast (13%); SG: Long and Difficult (13%); SG: ARG (13%) and Course History (13%)
- Scottie Scheffler
- Wyndham Clark
- Tony Finau
- Joel Dahmen
- Stephan Jaeger
- Aaron Rai
- Sahith Theegala
- Keith Mitchell
- Jhonnatan Vegas
- Jason Day
- Kurt Kitayama
- Alex Noren
- Will Zalatoris
- Si Woo Kim
- Adam Long
2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open Picks
Will Zalatoris +2000 (Caesars)
Scottie Scheffler will undoubtedly be difficult to beat this week, so I’m starting my card with someone who I believe has the talent to beat him if he doesn’t have his best stuff.
Will Zalatoris missed the cut at the PLAYERS, but still managed to gain strokes on approach while doing so. In an unpredictable event with extreme variance, I don’t believe it would be wise to discount Zalatoris based on that performance. Prior to The PLAYERS, the 27-year-old finished T13, T2 and T4 in his previous three starts.
Zalatoris plays his best golf on long and difficult golf courses. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the category, but the eye test also tells a similar story. He’s contended at major championships and elevated events in the best of fields with tough scoring conditions. The Texas resident should be a perfect fit at Memorial Park Golf Club.
Alex Noren +4500 (FanDuel)
Alex Noren has been quietly playing some of his best golf of the last half decade this season. The 41-year-old is coming off back-to-back top-20 finishes in Florida including a T9 at The PLAYERS in his most recent start.
In his past 24 rounds, Noren ranks 21st in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 30th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, 25th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses and 21st in Strokes Gained: Putting on fast Bermudagrass greens.
In addition to his strong recent play, the Swede also has played well at Memorial Park. In 2022, Noren finished T4 at the event, gaining 2.2 strokes off the tee and 7.0 strokes on approach for the week. In his two starts at the course, he’s gained an average of .6 strokes per round on the field, indicating he is comfortable on these greens.
Noren has been due for a win for what feels like an eternity, but Memorial Park may be the course that suits him well enough for him to finally get his elusive first PGA Tour victory.
Mackenzie Hughes +8000 (FanDuel)
Mackenzie Hughes found himself deep into contention at last week’s Valspar Championship before faltering late and finishing in a tie for 3rd place. While he would have loved to win the event, it’s hard to see the performance as anything other than an overwhelming positive sign for the Canadian.
Hughes has played great golf at Memorial Park in the past. He finished T7 in 2020, T29 in 2021 and T16 in 2022. The course fit seems to be quite strong for Hughes. He’s added distance off the tee in the past year or and ranks 8th in the field for apex height, which will be a key factor when hitting into Memorial Park’s elevated greens with steep run-off areas.
In his past 24 rounds, Hughes is the best player in the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Greens. The ability to scramble at this course will be extremely important. I believe Hughes can build off of his strong finish last week and contend once again to cement himself as a President’s Cup consideration.
Akshay Bhatia +8000 (FanDuel)
Akshay Bhatia played well last week at the Valspar and seemed to be in total control of his golf ball. He finished in a tie for 17th and shot an impressive -3 on a difficult Sunday. After struggling Thursday, Akshay shot 68-70-68 in his next three rounds.
Thus far, Bhatia has played better at easier courses, but his success at Copperhead may be due to his game maturing. The 22-year-old has enormous potential and the raw talent to be one of the best players in the world when he figures it all out.
Bhatia is a high upside play with superstar qualities and may just take the leap forward to the next stage of his career in the coming months.
Cameron Champ +12000 (FanDuel)
Cameron Champ is a player I often target in the outright betting market due to his “boom-or-bust” nature. It’s hard to think of a player in recent history with three PGA Tour wins who’s been as inconsistent as Champ has over the course of his career.
Despite the erratic play, Cam Champ simply knows how to win. He’s won in 2018, 2019 and 2021, so I feel he’s due for a win at some point this season. The former Texas A&M product should be comfortable in Texas and last week he showed us that his game is in a pretty decent spot.
Over his past 24 rounds, Champ ranks 3rd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 30th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses. Given his ability to spike at any given time, Memorial Park is a good golf course to target Champ on at triple digit odds.
Robert MacIntyre +12000 (FanDuel)
The challenge this week is finding players who can possibly beat Scottie Scheffler while also not dumping an enormous amount of money into an event that has a player at the top that looks extremely dangerous. Enter McIntyre, who’s another boom-or-bust type player who has the ceiling to compete with anyone when his game is clicking on all cylinders.
In his past 24 rounds, MacIntyre ranks 16th in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 17th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and 10th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses.
MacIntyre’s PGA Tour season has gotten off to a slow start, but he finished T6 in Mexico, which is a course where players will hit driver on the majority of their tee shots, which is what we will see at Memorial Park. Texas can also get quite windy, which should suit MacIntyre. Last July, the Scot went toe to toe with Rory McIlroy at the Scottish Open before a narrow defeat. It would take a similar heroic effort to compete with Scheffler this year in Houston.
Ryan Moore +15000 (FanDuel)
Ryan Moore’s iron play has been absolutely unconscious over his past few starts. At The PLAYERS Championship in a loaded field, he gained 6.1 strokes on approach and last week at Copperhead, he gained 9.0 strokes on approach.
It’s been a rough handful of years on Tour for the 41-year-old, but he is still a five-time winner on the PGA Tour who’s young enough for a career resurgence. Moore has chronic deterioration in a costovertebral joint that connects the rib to the spine, but has been getting more consistent of late, which is hopefully a sign that he is getting healthy.
Veterans have been contending in 2024 and I believe taking a flier on a proven Tour play who’s shown signs of life is a wise move at Memorial Park.
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B.F. Skinner was one of the most important psychologists of the 20th century, developing the foundation of the development of reinforcement, and in doing so, creating the concept of behaviorism. In simple terms, this means that we are conditioned by our habits. In practical terms, it explains the divide between the few and far between elite instructors and college coaches.
To understand the application, let’s quickly review one of B.F. Skinner’s most important experiments; superstitions in the formation of behavior by pigeons. In this experiment, food was dispensed to pigeons at random intervals. Soon, according to Skinner, the pigeons began to associate whatever action they were doing at the time of the food being dispensed. According to Skinner, this conditioned that response and soon, they simply haphazardly repeated the action, failing to distinguish between cause and correlation (and in the meantime, looking really funny!).
Now, this is simply the best way to describe the actions of most every women’s college golf coach and too many instructors in America. They see something work, get positive feedback and then become conditioned to give the feedback, more and more, regardless of if it works (this is also why tips from your buddies never work!).
Go to a college event, particularly a women’s one, and you will see coaches running all over the place. Like the pigeons in the experiment, they have been conditioned into a codependent relationship with their players in which they believe their words and actions, can transform a round of golf. It is simply hilarious while being equally perturbing
In junior golf, it’s everywhere. Junior golf academies make a living selling parents that a hysterical coach and over-coaching are essential ingredients in your child’s success.
Let’s be clear, no one of any intellect has any real interest in golf — because it’s not that interesting. The people left, including most coaches and instructors, carve out a small fiefdom, usually on the corner of the range, where they use the illusion of competency to pray on people. In simple terms, they baffle people with the bullshit of pseudo-science that they can make you better, after just one more lesson.
The reality is that life is an impromptu game. The world of golf, business, and school have a message that the goal is being right. This, of course, is bad advice, being right in your own mind is easy, trying to push your ideas on others is hard. As a result, it is not surprising that the divorce rate among golf professionals and their instructors is 100 percent. The transfer rate among college players continues to soar, and too many courses have a guy peddling nefarious science to good people. In fact, we do at my course!
The question is, what impact does all this have on college-age and younger kids? At this point, we honestly don’t know. However, I am going to go out on a limb and say it isn’t good.
Soren Kierkegaard once quipped “I saw it for what it is, and I laughed.” The actions of most coaches and instructors in America are laughable. The problem is that I am not laughing because they are doing damage to kids, as well as driving good people away from this game.
The fact is that golfers don’t need more tips, secrets, or lessons. They need to be presented with a better understanding of the key elements of golf. With this understanding, they can then start to frame which information makes sense and what doesn’t. This will emancipate them and allow them to take charge of their own development.
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BrentF
Apr 23, 2016 at 10:18 pm
Comments on this site are ridiculous. BD has a great game…he’s better than everyone that posts here…the article was interesting…go to the range and practice and stop being so judgemental and snide.
scot
Apr 23, 2016 at 8:36 pm
seems the author is more concerned about making a case for his greatness than the potential of BD
Dj
Apr 23, 2016 at 2:57 pm
Dechambeau is a cocky kid, thinks he’s better than everyone else and just wants to be different for the spot light. It’s working, but not for long.
Matthew Bacon
Apr 23, 2016 at 10:07 am
He seems like a nice guy but no.
Christosterone
Apr 23, 2016 at 9:11 am
Remember when Hal Sutton was the next Nicklaus? Yeah, me neither….but he was…not
The only next Jack is Tiger….Phil is Tom Watson….Vijay is Johnny Miller….Dustin Johnson is Tom Weiskopf…..Zach Johnson is Larry Nelson….nobody is the Next Palmer because he was the coolest man to ever hit the links
-Christosterone
Mark
Apr 23, 2016 at 5:28 am
Ah yes this year’s model. Our Pro is convinced his swing will destroy his back. He comes across as a great bloke and is waaaay more intelligent than a lot of his peers (apologies to Jimmy Walker). But, and it is a huge but, is there are so many brilliant non Americans arriving on the scene every year that Bryson is not guaranteed success.
Scott
Apr 25, 2016 at 11:12 am
Your “pro” should really look at what is happening in his swing before making such a ridiculous statement. Bryson has removed all of the torque on his lower back. His swing and back should last a long time. You should probably just look for a “pro” that pays attention.
RG
Apr 23, 2016 at 1:49 am
Way to go out on a limb. If I had not read this article I wouldn’t even know who Bryson DeChambeau is. So he’s pretty good huh? Unconventional you say. I didn’t know. Well way to make a call, I had not heard that we should expect great things from him or that he was anything special. Very informative.
Jordan Speeth
Apr 22, 2016 at 7:44 pm
Seems like I’ve heard this somewhere before….oh yeah, about Bryson deChambeau, by every golf writer on earth. Can’t we wait until he actually accomplishes something? I know his amateur record well, but that means not much right now unless he adds to that with a professional record. He is the same age as Jordan Spieth, and without doing a thing other than place well in some professional tournaments, he’s already the greatest thing that ever came along. I hope he does well. I hope all of them do well, but to hear this over and over when nothing’s happened yet is a joke. I also find his swagger to be annoying without anything to rest on. You hardly see Rory, Jordan, or Ricky behaving this way. I think it was Einstein who said that the truly brilliant minds are the ones that are able to explain complicated things in simple terms that everyone can understand. Bryson seems to want to complicate everything about his playing/swing philosophy to make himself appear smarter than everyone around him….kind of like his mentor, Homer Kelly. BTW, he’s about to miss his first cut. Can we at least please hold off on the coronation until he wins a Tour event…anything?…. I’m not even asking for a major.
Mike
Apr 22, 2016 at 6:02 pm
Nice article. Stat on Ryan Moore is incorrect. He finished T2 in his 5th PGA Tour start as a pro in the Canadian Open, not a year like the article states.
Mike Dowd
Apr 22, 2016 at 4:48 pm
I definitely appreciate (and agree with) the sentiment of those who think we should see a little more from the “Prince” of pro golf (as Tom W. called him) before we crown him the “King” of anything. One of the biggest points I was actually making was how we too often tend to fall in love with players with “style” before they show us much “substance” and Rickie was a prime example of that. Now I do think the fact that he’s done something that only 4 players have done previously (even if that was as an amateur), does give him just a bit more credibility than most as he arrives on the professional scene, but, as Ty said, we definitely need to see how this plays out. I like his chances, though, and if he’s getting more eyeballs (like Bryan’s) who weren’t terribly interested or inclined to tune in then he’ll be good for golf, and it’s been just about 20 years since we’ve been able to say that about anyone.
Chuck D
Apr 22, 2016 at 3:24 pm
And anoth’a thing, cut that driver down to 6 iron length and THEN I might show some interest!
Chuck D
Apr 22, 2016 at 3:20 pm
Really?! Can this next “Nicklaus” please win a significant amount of tournaments before we induct
him into the “unqualified” status of potential Hall of Flames, Urrrr, I mean Fame?! This premature
anointing of unproven talent is about to drive me from being interested as a fan to this sport. This obsession of immediately awarding these clowns elevated status because they finished 16th at major,
or simply because they were amateur champions is flat out ridiculous! Media….please stop the nonsense and hype machine at once! I know, I know, it’ll never happen.
snowman
Apr 22, 2016 at 2:45 pm
He could be great for the game if he can balance his unconventional/flamboyant style/personality and sincerely project some humility and not come off as cocky. Gotta win more than Rickie has so far or it will be just another marketing sideshow.
Mbwa Kali Sana
Apr 22, 2016 at 2:21 pm
Why turn youngsters into superstars ,when they haven’t acheived anything valuable yet!
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU is good looking , Plays a good golf game ,but nothing extraordinary .
Hé certainly has a very good public relations Man working for him .
Now ,it’s. Not with his single plane swing and évén length irons That hé will come to the top .
Nô GREAT champion ,except eccentric MOE NORMAN has won a major with a single plane swing and same shaft irons ..
Tom
Apr 23, 2016 at 6:30 am
Better question is can you even name another pro who played SL irons other than Moe Norman?
Sam
Apr 24, 2016 at 1:14 pm
Ummmmm……Moe Norman never played in the US Open, Open Championship or the PGA Championship and got cut from the Masters the one time he played.
Blake
Apr 22, 2016 at 2:19 pm
Please please stop talking about this guy. His whole persona is tiring and the media constantly shoving him down our throats does little for him.
birdy
Apr 22, 2016 at 1:40 pm
bryson played in several pro events leading up to his first ‘official’ pro event. comparing his finish to others in their true first round little misleading. other than that good article and have no doubt he’s the real deal.
Joe
Apr 22, 2016 at 1:36 pm
I like the kid, he has a really good game. As far as humility, he doesn’t have much. However, very few outstanding players in any sport have much humility. When you think you are one of the elite thinking you can leap tall buildings in a single bound is normal.
We will see how it goes.
Moo
Apr 22, 2016 at 1:30 pm
Or the next ‘Tommy Two Gloves’.
Jay
Apr 22, 2016 at 11:48 pm
Hasn’t he at least won on tour?
Ty Tryon
Apr 22, 2016 at 12:35 pm
Someone said this about me one time.
Golf is a sport where things are earned not guaranteed. Let’s all just see how this plays out
Forsbrand
Apr 22, 2016 at 2:47 pm
No way! Ty I wa only checking out your swing from the US Open a couple of years ago. Amazing swing!
You will have your chance Ty don’t you worry you are too good not to succeed. Perhaps you don’t realise that enough yet?!
You are right let Bryson develop on his own, the media is too keen to promote with one hand and then smash you the following day with the other.
All the best Ty
Forsbrand
Apr 23, 2016 at 7:58 am
Hey M Sizzle what’s the M short for? Mug?!!
Emb
Apr 22, 2016 at 12:05 pm
Humility? Clearly you haven’t been paying much attention to the kid if you think he has anything approaching humility. DeChambeau is right up there with Mickelson as King of the phonies.
MarkB A
Apr 22, 2016 at 12:14 pm
Well you may not like him the kid has game and plays the modern game of golf. Phil can still play it at times. Tiger can no longer play with the modern players. Golf has passed him by. The future belongs to young plays like DeChambeau
Mike Dowd
Apr 22, 2016 at 12:55 pm
Well I think there can be a fine line between projecting confidence and arrogance and it is most often in the eye of the beholder. Confidence is paramount in golf and things a player says, especially to the press following a round, are often as much to protect their own sense of belief and self-confidence as anything and can come off to the casual observer at times as arrogant. Additionally, we are so used to so many players that are so milk toast and bereft of personality that when someone comes along who has a little it invariably rubs some people the wrong way. Ultimately, we are in an entertainment business and, love him or hate him, this kid is an entertainer. And finally, actions speak louder than words, and for now at least, I can only go on the actions I’ve seen firsthand, rather than a few comments I may hear second-hand to the contrary. At least until, as Ty says, the kid’s got a bigger body of work to draw from. Thanks for your views!
Johny Thunder
Apr 22, 2016 at 5:15 pm
“milquetoast”
Al Czervik
Apr 22, 2016 at 3:11 pm
Thank you… This is the exact impression I got from watching him during the post round press conferences. Give him a few years and I have a feeling he’ll dethrone Mickelson as “King”.
McLovin
Apr 22, 2016 at 11:08 am
i like that he copied Vicki Hurst’s choice in golf caps
Bryan
Apr 22, 2016 at 11:03 am
Not saying he is the next Tiger Woods of golf…but he might be…His use of SL irons might spark an industry change in iron design and we may actually start seeing major OEM manufactures putting out SL irons. Of course a lot of this rides on how well he does as a pro.
However; to compare him to three of the greatest golfers of all time, one being Tiger, I don’t think it is far fetched to say, he could be the next Tiger Woods of golf…
Tom W.
Apr 22, 2016 at 10:48 am
I like DeChambeau’s flair he’s the “Prince” of pro golf.
Bryan
Apr 22, 2016 at 11:05 am
As of right now I’ve never had interest in following pro golf, not even Tiger when he came out. However; this kids use of SL irons has sparked my interest to follow pro golf, much like millions of people did when Tiger came on scene. His style of hat may become the next fad lol…
Double Mocha Man
Apr 22, 2016 at 2:48 pm
I’m off to buy a Kangol cap right now…