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Bryson DeChambeau says he will leave the flag in while he putts in 2019
Bryson DeChambeau is well known for being a nonconformist in the golfing world, and the 25-year-old lived up to that status once more when he announced that he plans on leaving the pin in when he putts in 2019 as doing so will be permitted under the Rules of Golf. Speaking at a photo shoot with Golf.com, DeChambeau stated that his strategy would depend on the coefficient of restitution of the flagstick (naturally).
“It depends on the COR, the coefficient of restitution of the flagstick. In U.S. Opens, I’ll take it out, and every other Tour event, when it’s fiberglass, I’ll leave it in and bounce that ball against the flagstick if I need to.”
DeChambeau is no stranger to the unorthodox; the American currently competes with irons that are the same length (that of a 7-iron) and same lie angle, as we well know. The physics major is also known to put his golf balls in a bowl of Epson Salts to make sure that they are perfectly round.
Explaining the reasoning behind his new strategy to only putt on the green when the pin is fiberglass, DeChambeau stressed that thicker pins, ala U.S. Open style, will lead to more aggressive rebounding when struck, claiming: “It’s a higher propensity for it to go in the hole if it’s fiberglass compared to metal.”
The four-time winner on the PGA Tour will have to wait until 2019 before he lets his new plan unfold, but DeChambeau is bullish that his scheme will pay off, stating
“The USGA’s gonna have to go back on that one. Like, ‘No! We made the hole bigger!’”
DeChambeau is in action this week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open where he began the event with a 5-under par round of 66.
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SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”
“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”
Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.
According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”
CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.
“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.
Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history
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Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.
It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.
PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place
The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.
This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.
With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.
360° and in!
A nervy par save by @TaylorPendrith to remain one back as he seeks his first PGA TOUR victory @CJByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/LVFXUSidSg
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024
DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four
It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.
It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.
.@adrianotaegui birdies the 16th to tie the lead at -17 ?#VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/p4tfE5DRJa
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 5, 2024
PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella
Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.
64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.
.@TBalla21 eagles 17, shoots 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the KIA Open. pic.twitter.com/TTOL2LxSdh
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) May 4, 2024
PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win
Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.
The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.
Off the green? No worries for @ScottDu12500063
8-under solo leader @InsperityInvtnl pic.twitter.com/hoj5OujL5C
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 4, 2024
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Peter Kuest what’s in the bag accurate as of CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (8 degrees)...
Kelly Kraft WITB 2024 (May)
Kelly Kraft’s what’s in the bag accurate as of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. More photos from the event here. ...
Taylor Pendrith’s winning WITB: 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees) Buy here. Shaft: Accra TZ Six ST 3-wood: Ping G430 Max (15 degrees) Buy here....
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Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, D1 SureFit setting) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (15 degrees)...
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CrashTestDummy
Nov 3, 2018 at 4:39 pm
I have different thoughts about the flagstick, but am not against what he claims because I haven’t researched it. However, my whole thing is how the pin is oriented. On downhill putts I leave the pin in. I think helps much more than it hurts because of the way the pin is oriented. Above the cup there is an advantage because the pin is slopping away from the player on the low side of the cup, so, the cup is bigger on the high side of the cup. On the flipside on uphill putts, there is a disadvantage because since the pin is leaning toward the player, the cup is slightly smaller on the low side of the cup.
BoB
Nov 5, 2018 at 4:36 am
I believe the new rules will totally slow down the game, theb flag will be out and in all the time , player a always plays with the flagout , player b in on the long putts out on the short putts. Then the wind leaves in from one direction out from another, I play 3 hours by foot 18 holes. The games not going to be quicker for all the rule changes, its the people who have to player quicker. Please leave the rules alone.
What comes next adouble so big hole so that the people need less putts
CaoNiMa
Nov 3, 2018 at 2:46 am
You put your hard flag in, soft flag out, in-out, in-out, and shake it all about, you do the hokey pokey and turn the caddies all around, that’s what it’s all about!
“No time for the old in-out, love, I’ve come to read the meter”
Craig
Nov 2, 2018 at 9:02 pm
I expect for most players it will end up a bit like chipping. Leave it in for long putts, but for the make-able ones take it out. I guarantee Bryson takes it out on the 3 footers.
JP
Nov 2, 2018 at 5:33 pm
Who cares? If it really helps, they will ALL do it. So wait and see…
Rick
Nov 2, 2018 at 4:59 pm
The flagstick is like the backboard in basketball. It will never hurt a good shot, and only help a bad one. If you bang one off the stick so hard that it ricochets, it wasn’t going in anyway.
CrashTestDummy
Nov 3, 2018 at 5:13 pm
Not necessarily. Flags don’t sit perfectly in the cup and lean. So, they can be leaning depending the slope of where a cup is cut or the wind. The orientation of the flag leaning can make the cup bigger or smaller on one side of the hole which can help or hurt a putt from falling.
John
Nov 2, 2018 at 3:30 pm
The day I leave the flag in to putt is the day I give up golf.
Scheiss
Nov 3, 2018 at 2:47 am
Goodbye! And good riddance!
Brent
Nov 3, 2018 at 8:53 am
Do you still play a balata too?
benseattle
Nov 2, 2018 at 2:30 pm
I’m no physics major nor did I do a test with thousands of Pelz-inspired simulated shots nor did I conduct a chipping test with Iron Byron. However, I do know this: I can’t tell you how many HUNDREDS of times I’ve seen smooth rolling chips barely graze a flagstick and send the ball away from the hole — balls that would have DEFINITELY dropped had the flagstick been removed. Sure, a fast-moving skulled chip might fall if it hits the flagstick dead center (if it’s not so hard that it clanks off the stick back toward the player) but a ball rolling toward an empty cup at least has a chance to allow GRAVITY to take effect; not quite the case when the flagstick intercepts it first. I’ve known about the Pelz study for years but as a pretty good chipper, I always remove the pin before trying to hole a chip. Ain’t stopping now.
The slow play deal (pin in, pin out, pin in) could very well manifest itself on the PGA Tour, depending on who’s playing and what they believe. Frankly, I don’t see a big change here: these guys have ALWAYS putted with the flag out… a habit hard to break and doesn’t the hole looks SMALLER when there’s a flagstick jammed in there?
Scheiss
Nov 3, 2018 at 2:49 am
A good speed that will catch the back of the cup on the way down by gravity will go in than the same speed that hits the flag, it’ll more than likely ricochet sideways
Pete
Nov 3, 2018 at 6:34 am
‘Definitely dropped…’. But how do you know that? Without doing the thousands of hours of testing?
Brent
Nov 3, 2018 at 8:55 am
Some people are allergic to facts and science.
Mwa Kali Sana
Nov 3, 2018 at 11:04 am
I agree :I’m also an excellent chipper and most of the time I remove the pin if I chip to a flat green :if I chip downslope ,I keep the pin in the hole as a backstop
Rich Douglas
Nov 2, 2018 at 2:23 pm
The only reason for pulling the flag on putts from the green is that it’s always been done that way (in our lifetimes, anyway). But it is a silly practice.
First, no other shot mandates this, not even putts from off the green. Why the exception? I can see ALLOWING it, but REQUIRING it? Never made sense.
Second, Dave Pelz showed in research a decade ago that it is always better to leave the flag in, even if the flag is being bent towards you by the wind, unless the wind is so strong it prevents the ball from falling in. (In which case, go into the clubhouse and have a drink.)
The only problem with this rule is that it might slow play as players in a group go back and forth about whether or not they want the pin in. (They do, but they don’t always realize it.)
Scott Grossman
Nov 2, 2018 at 1:35 pm
As a golfer, Bryson is something of a physicist.
As a physicist, he is just a golfer.
web design or web developer
Nov 2, 2018 at 1:07 pm
Thanks for finally talking about >Bryson DeChambeau says he will leave the flag
in while he putts in 2019 – GolfWRX <Loved it!
Leo Vincent
Nov 2, 2018 at 12:19 pm
Once again Bryson is ahead of the curve. Putting with the flag in is advantageous in most situations.It aids in alignment and it is easier to putt at something above ground.Paul Azinger has been saying this for years. As a non – scientific test on a putting green putt at a water bottle or something similar that is smaller than a hole then putt at the hole and i bet you hit the bottle a lot more than you hole it.Everyone i have done this with has. I always putt at something above ground in warm ups and visualize a bottle or can in the hole when playing.Wish they had this rule when i was playing professionally
dat
Nov 2, 2018 at 12:07 pm
I’d be fine if he never won again and left the tour to work for NASA. Get out of here with this mumbo jumbo crap.
Steven
Nov 2, 2018 at 11:56 am
The PGA need to address this now. The rule designed is for speed of play and not to possibly benefit a player. Bryson is hardly speedy as it is and if nothing elsei he should be penalised for not playing within “the spirit of the game”
The rule as it stands is a joke and bother the USGA & R&A have dropped the ball here.
kevin
Nov 2, 2018 at 1:46 pm
I think this is going to backfire on the intent of the rule to speed up play.
This isn’t about Bryson. I think this will lead to slower play. one guys wants it in, then the next wants it out, then the third wants it back in.
I really don’t understand with all the things that could’ve been addressed, why this was a priority. The rule simply should’ve been allowing anyone playing a round ‘by theirselves’ to be able to leave the pin in while on the green and still be conforming relating to posting handicap.
Simms
Nov 2, 2018 at 2:25 pm
Our club went to the 2019 rules two weeks ago…yes you are 100% correct…the group I played in today ended up 2 holes behind and that leave the pin in take it out thing was the main cause….some of the guys have found how much of an advantage it is even on a five foot put..I am talking a Senior Mens club here…and yes 100% leaving the flag in is a plus for Senior golfer for sure….RULE CHANGE SOON, RIGHT?
Curt
Nov 2, 2018 at 11:52 am
Worst tour player ever. Definitely should be banned from tour. I guess I’m wrong but the flag can only be used when you can’t see the hole.
Brent
Nov 3, 2018 at 8:57 am
saying worst tour player ever makes you sound extremely ignorant and grossly misinformed. And you are wrong about he rule. Why would you hate on a guy for following the rules?
Mike
Nov 3, 2018 at 9:51 am
How would you go about banning him? What would you base the ban on? Maybe while you’re at it you can jail Hillary Clinton for NOT breaking any laws.
Richard Douglas
Nov 3, 2018 at 2:56 pm
Really? Worst ever? Worse than Ken Green? Mac O’Grady? Tommy Bolt? Tom Weiskopf?
Yes, you’re wrong.
tim
Nov 2, 2018 at 11:47 am
Why doesn’t the PGA Tour just make a tour-only rule that overrides the USGA?
Bill
Nov 2, 2018 at 11:51 am
Gianni:
Before being critical of Dechambeau playing practices, you need to win 4 times on the PGA tour.
Curt
Nov 2, 2018 at 11:54 am
Should have all kinds of tour only rules since it’s where rules matter.
J Zilla
Nov 2, 2018 at 12:42 pm
Because the tour has no control over the majors or WGC (I think) and it probably wouldn’t be a good look to have separate rules on tour vs the biggest events.
Scheiss
Nov 3, 2018 at 2:35 am
They already do have separate rules on Tour. They cut the rough down way shorter, and make it easier for Eldrick to win by allowing him to play courses he likes and avoid the ones he doesn’t.
DougE
Nov 3, 2018 at 10:18 am
Really? Wait, so only Tiger benefits from shorter rough and can choose to play the courses he wants? Wow, all this time I thought he was just a better player than those other guys. Stupid me. Thanks for clarifying how the rules work Scheiss-ter.
AggOwl
Nov 5, 2018 at 7:49 am
Eldrick & Alfred both!
HDTVMAN
Nov 2, 2018 at 11:44 am
I am really getting sick of this guy!
David C
Nov 2, 2018 at 12:10 pm
I love it. Every bit of it EXCEPT his slow play, put him ON THE CLOCK. It’s fine to play by the rules, even if they benefit a player, but all rules should be enforced.
David Lehmann
Nov 2, 2018 at 10:17 am
Leave the flag in and sink a putt…. be careful pulling the flag to get your ball. Sometimes the cup will come out also.!!!
Henry Adam
Nov 2, 2018 at 10:02 am
Some time ago, an experiment was conducted with an “iron Byron” putting and chipping machine, which showed very clearly that the ball found the bottom of the cup more often with the pin in than with it out.
Other than the CoR of the flagstick itself, many are now tapered, getting thinner at the base, thus directing a ball which strikes it downwards.
Now in my 70’s I remember well playing with the British sized ball (1.62″), prior to the rule change (in the 1970’s) enforcing the use of the larger (American)1.68″ version. Apart from immediately losing distance, there was a noticeable increase in “lip-outs”. This was due in part to larger size, but the effect of increased angular momentum as a ball rolled at given horizontal velocity to the hole. Horseshoe misses increased where the ball appeared to be dropping but managed to climb out again. The Welsh Ryder Cup player, Brian Huggett, appealed to the R&A to increase the size of the hole from its 4.25″ internal diameter to 4.5″, arguing that the rewards of hitting approach shots close were no longer as good. He was ignored. Now, the ball has changed again, with the construction such that the weight distribution is less at the centre and more evenly distributed out to the cover. We have gone from the would balls with a dense sack in the centre to a more uniform construction. This gives more rolling angular momentum and hence the ball rolls further on landing, especially on manicured fairways. There is also the further increase in lip-outs on the green. The hole diameter, arbitrarily based on the outside diameters of drain pipes in Eastern Scotland in the late 1800’s remains at 4.25″, but the saving grace is that modern greens are nothing like those of even 50 years ago, being much smoother, faster and truer.
Henry Adam
Nov 2, 2018 at 10:06 am
“This was due in part to larger size, but the effect…” should read “This was due in part to larger size, but also the effect…” and “We have gone from the would balls with a dense sack in the centre..” should read “We have gone from the wound balls with a dense sack in the centre..”
We do not seem able to edit after posting..
Victor Sterner
Nov 2, 2018 at 3:50 pm
I believe Pelz did a study and it is the golfers advantage to leave in the pin whenever possible.
Seth Mischke
Nov 1, 2018 at 10:10 pm
Flabbergasted…………Look at Zach Johnson, John Deere Classic from a few years back. Flagstick cost him the tourney on the 18th. The boys in the booth were like leave it in, it is stupid to take it out, and I was like Nooooooooooo. THE perfect example of why not to leave it in if you ask me.
Mike
Nov 1, 2018 at 9:12 pm
Dave Pelz studied this and has concluded that leaving the flagstick in is an avvantage on ALL shots including a 4 foot putt. Therefore it would be stupid for anyone playing for millions of dollars to ever putt with it out again.
TeeBone
Nov 1, 2018 at 8:14 pm
The flagstick might stop a ball that would finish well past, but will generally keep some balls out that might have gone in without the flagstick, regardless of the flexibility of the stick. Prediction: Bryson will do this until he hits a putt that he felt should have gone in, but hit the stick and didn’t. Then he’ll stop.
Johnny Penso
Nov 1, 2018 at 11:30 pm
Do you realize the irony of suggesting DeChambeau will make his decision as to whether to leave the stick in or not based on a whim or a single bad result? ???? ???? ???? ???? ????
Scheiss
Nov 1, 2018 at 7:14 pm
I think you should also measure the CT, the characteristic time. Might as well. Then you can use a foam marshmallow ball to make sure it goes in as it hugs the stick on its slide down into the cup
hans
Nov 1, 2018 at 7:07 pm
maybe the usga woulda been better off making this a local rule option, like the new 2 stroke penalty OB rule. don’t wanna see caddies on tv constantly shuffling to get the pin in/out depending on the player.
Scheiss
Nov 1, 2018 at 7:17 pm
Aha! You have hit it on the head.
See, the USGA didn’t think of that when they thought this rule would quicken the pace at the local muni level. They didn’t think that in a 4some, some might leave it in, and others not, and this pulling out and pulling in depending on who’s playing might now make the round take longer to play, especially if the last guy putting always wants it out.
It’ll be a circus to see the caddies hand it off to each other and ask around who’s leaving it in and who’s not and when it needs to be left in and not, and more traffic around the cup.
Ty Web
Nov 1, 2018 at 7:38 pm
These two comments right here. I fully expect to see this one changed somehow within a year.
Marco
Nov 1, 2018 at 11:11 pm
Not to mention how annoying it will be when you are waiting to hit into a green and you see the flag going in and out over and over again.
Acemandrake
Nov 2, 2018 at 11:58 am
Exactly! Your scenario sounds like “non-ready” golf as the player waiting in the fairway has to observe & wait for the correct time to begin their pre-shot routine.
Boyo
Nov 2, 2018 at 9:12 am
Right on! I’ve been saying this since I heard of this stupid rule….
Allen Wilson
Nov 1, 2018 at 6:55 pm
Back in the days of balata balls, we all floated them in Epsom salt water to see if the CG was actually in the physical middle of the ball.
BIG STU
Nov 2, 2018 at 1:18 pm
Allen Very true and we also carried a gauge to check to see if the ball was still round after a few holes. In fact I still have mine still attached to my old Ping Staff bag
Brandon
Nov 1, 2018 at 6:30 pm
Putting with the flag in is like nails on a chalk board to me. I cant stand it when people do this. I know its not rational but I cant even leave the little flags on the practice putting green in.
Charlie
Nov 1, 2018 at 11:09 pm
And 90% of those players don’t put the little flags back in. Nails on the chalkboard…
Boyo
Nov 2, 2018 at 9:14 am
What about us old men who don’t like bending over to fetch balls on a putting green?
CaoNiMa
Nov 2, 2018 at 10:55 am
You can’t bend over to get the ball? Don’t play golf. I bet you’re not going to be able to drop the ball from knee height either
Steven Meyers
Nov 2, 2018 at 2:19 pm
Pretty douchey thing to say to somebody. If you get lucky, maybe you will live long enough to get a bad back.
Sid
Nov 2, 2018 at 2:38 pm
If you were in my foursome you would be providing us with another hole to stick the flag pole in!
Thomas A
Nov 2, 2018 at 11:01 am
Get a Fetch putter from Ping!