19th Hole

Bryson says ‘technology is not up to par’ with modern day ball speeds

Published

1 year ago

Feb 2, 2023

In September of 2020, Bryson DeChambeau was fresh off of a dominating U.S. Open victory and went on to win the prestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational later that season. The mercurial budding superstar was seemingly changing the game right in front of our eyes.

Related: Report: Major champ in shock split with long-time caddie

Until he wasn’t.

Related: Patrick Reed issues statement following rules controversy in Dubai

It’s been almost two years since DeChambeau’s win at the API, and the 29-year-old is yet to win an event on any tour since. From a feud with Brooks Koepka, continuous nagging injuries and a borderline obsession with becoming a long drive champion, Bryson has done just about everything besides win golf tournaments.

In an interview with Mike McAllister of LIV Golf, DeChambeau revealed a handful of health issues that have plagued him over the past four years. After undergoing a full body scan conducted by Prenuvo, he found out that he had a retention cyst in his left sinus, among other problems.

“In the first minute of looking at it, he goes, ‘Yeah, you’ve got like four or five problems. You should’ve been in surgery yesterday,’ ” DeChambeau said. “It wasn’t an emergency … but he’s like, that’s a big problem.”

After getting the issues fixed, Bryson says he feels back to how he felt when he was playing his best.

“To get that fixed, it’s been the greatest decision of my life,” DeChambeau said. “My energy level is so much better. My clarity of thought is way better. I don’t know if you can tell, but my speech is a lot more fluent and I’m not stopping as much or pitching as much like I used to last year and before.

“I feel like I’m back to 2018 me.”

Bryson also took some time away from golf, which is something he feels he needed to do with how hard he’d been training over the last few years.

“It’s been six years of nonstop, go-go-go, all golf,” DeChambeau said. “I just needed a bit of a break …

“Last year, I feel like was a reset year. This year is a building year. I feel like it’s an opportunity to show off what I know how to do best, which is play golf at the highest level. I know some people will not believe that playing golf at the highest level is with LIV, but for me it is.

“I still have a passion to be the best player in the world. And however, that ranking metric goes is how it goes. That’s for another discussion. But this offseason has been great preparation mentally for me.”

Another interesting take from Bryson was regarding club technology. According to the 29-year-old, technology is not currently up to scratch when it comes to modern day ball speeds, and the Californian believes that when that ever happens, it’s going to “change the game forever.”

“Technology is not up to par with the way golfers can perform at high speeds. Anything over 185 mph – good luck trying to control it right now.

We’re still on a pursuit to who can make a driver that can work it at 200 anywhere and everywhere on the face and still goes in the fairway. When that day comes, that’s going to be eye-opening for a lot of individuals because they will be optimizing ball speeds at 195, which can fly 360 yards. And that’s going to change the game forever. But we’re not there yet.”

DeChambeau will look to start 2023 off on the right foot as he’s set to tee it up at this week’s Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.

Butch Harmon reveals what he worked on with Rory McIlroy during visit earlier this year

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking on the “Son of a Butch” Podcast, legendary swing coach Butch Harmon revealed what he worked on with Rory McIlroy when the four-time major champion went to visit him after the Players Championship this season.

Butch Harmon on what he worked on with Rory:

“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make…

— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) May 15, 2024

“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make more 3 quarter swings and chop the follow through off a little. He’s a very high ball hitter, but with short irons high balls aren’t good, it’s hard to control, we wanted to bring the ball flight down.”

The work certainly seemed to help McIlroy, as he went on to win the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in back-to-back starts.

Rory will now tee it up at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, which is the site of his most recent major victory in 2014.

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19th Hole

Brandel Chamblee says this technological development was key to Phil Mickelson winning major championships

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking with GolfWRX, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee shared that he believes the solid core golf ball helped Phil Mickelson win major championships.

“One of the consequences of the solid core golf ball coming around was it put the straightest of hitters in the rough.

“Phil started winning majors in 2004, I don’t think that’s any coincidence. I think he started winning majors after the solid core golf ball came along and put everybody in the rough.

“And so [Phil] is like ‘I got you in the rough, I’m going to kick your a**. This is my game. I’ve been in the rough my whole career. I can go over trees, through trees, around trees.’

“Because he’s got that amazing creativity and Phil is an underrated iron player, phenomenal iron player. Great, great great out of the trouble. If you put the top-40 players on a list and ranked them in terms of accuracy, he would be 40th.

“So, I think that was one of the consequences of the solid core golf balls was it allowed Phil to win major championships.”

Mickelson went on to win the Masters in 2004 as well as five additional majors from 2004-2021 including three total Masters, two PGA Championships, and an Open Championship.

Check out the full interview with Chamblee below:

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19th Hole

Former Augusta National employee pleads guilty to transporting stolen Masters memorabilia; Arnold Palmer’s green jacket among stolen items

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man was charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National last month.

The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.

The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The document was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Since then, more details have emerged about the case.

According to Darren Rovell of Cllct, one of the items that was stolen was Arnold Palmer’s green jacket.

The Chicago Tribune also reported that Globensky was able to steal the merchandise due to his role as a former warehouse coordinator at Augusta National who oversaw the Masters merchandise that was sold.

Rovell states that “A source with intimate knowledge of the case said an Augusta National member, who knew the jacket was missing, contacted a well-known collector who had gained a reputation for tracking down rare items. The member’s goal was to return the jacket to Augusta under the guise of purchasing it in a private sale.”

The plan worked, and the man agreed to sell the jacket for an agreed upon price of $3.6 million. After the sale was complete, the FBI swarmed the house of the thief.

Cllct also reported that Globensky pled guilty in a federal court in Chicago on Wednesday and now faces up to 10 years in prison.

The Chicago Tribune adds that Globensky’s plea deal includes an agreement to provide the government a cashier’s check for $1.5 million in the next few days.