19th Hole

Bryson DeChambeau’s WITB for 2023 features some interesting changes

Published

1 year ago

Mar 15, 2023

Former US Open champion and world number one Bryson DeChambeau is now a fully fledged member of LIV Golf, but whilst his style may not have changed, the tools of the trade have recently done so.

The 29-year-old, with a best of eighth place in seven LIV events, and with no victory since the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational, still provokes memories of his extraordinary distance:

Like most players, Bryson is a tinkerer, but after his agreement with Cobra ended at the turn of the year, there was more than the usual interest when, three days ago, he posted a video of the clubs in his current ‘whole new’ bag.

Given Bryson’s almost continual search for increased ball- speed and extra distance, the Long Drive World Championship runner-up is always going to attract attention when discussing his sticks, and the video already has close to 200,000 views.

He started the video by saying he is ‘super stoked’ and is looking forward to a ‘new year, new me’, before praising his new ‘Crushers‘ bag – the name of the team he captains for LIV, containing Mayakoba winner Charles Howell III and fourth-placed Paul Casey, who combined for 23 of the 26-under winning score.

During the video, Bryson confirms his irons remain the same length throughout, varying only in loft and weight, and he started working his way from the (usually) shortest clubs in the bag. But there are changes.

He still has his 56-degree Artisan wedge but has added a Ping Glide 4.0, with the same loft but a wider bounce, both now covering different turf conditions.

Having removed his 3-wood due to ‘flattening the face’ he says he is working on getting a new one.

Bryson is now playing Ping i230 irons all the way through 60-degree, 56, 50 and 45-degree, made with a “draw-bias bounce and a closed face.” He is particularly impressed with a “slot” that seems to assist the clubs in going through the rough in much easier fashion and helped for the times he was in the thicker stuff during LIV Mayakoba.

The eight-time PGA Tour said that “Ping have done a really good job with [the length of the clubs]” and goes on to his Ping Crossover 2-iron with 15-degree loft, a “hybrid driving iron” that offers him “piercing bullets.”

He admiits that the question everyone wants to know is, “What driver am I using?” and he tells us that he is now using the TaylorMade Stealth driver, with 8-degree standard loft, although he is working with the manufacturer to produce less spin.

He has retained a Ping LST driver as his back-up, and again is working on a few things, mainly “face stuff.”

Finally, Bryson says he is keeping his LA Golf C2L-180 putter, although he has changed the angle of the grip and added lead tape to change the weight. Happy though he is, he is “working on stuff” with the company’s new carbon shaft, and is excited to see where that goes in the near future.

This is an experimental stage in Bryson DeChambeau’s career, so while he may have been “impressed by my own game, especially how far I hit it,” you get the impression there is more experimentation to come.

This is, after all, the player that carries several rulers marked in 5-inch sections so that he can have a spacial reference to how far to aim it.

The ‘new’ Bryson certainly seems happy with where he is at and is at pains to point out how much new Crushers GC merchandise there will be be but, ultimately, he admits, “I’m just trying stuff out.”

Rory McIlroy admits he was left in ‘disbelief’ by Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup appointment

Published

14 hours ago

Jul 12, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

On Monday, the world of golf was put into collective disbelief when Keegan Bradley was appointed as the 2025 United States team Ryder Cup captain. The vast majority of fans and media lauded the choice, but it was a surprising one, nonetheless.

During his pre-tournament press conference, Rory McIlroy, who was the leading point scorer in the 2023 Ryder Cup, was asked for his thoughts on the Bradley appointment.

“I think it has come as a surprise for everyone. We had dinner in London on Sunday night with Luke [Donald], and he told us then.

“Its’ an interesting appointment. The youngest captain since Arnold Palmer I think was a playing captain as 34. But he knows Bethpage very well. He went to university in the area. He’s obviously very passionate about the Ryder Cup.

‘It’s certainly a departure from what the US have done over the last few years, and time will tell if that’s a good thing or not.”

When he was asked how the room reacted while the European team was out to dinner, he said “disbelief.”

“I think disbelief, probably. I think Keegan was probably in disbelief, at some point, too, but it’s certainly an interesting pick.”

McIlroy got off to a hot start at the Scottish Open, where he is the defending champion. He will have to chase down Ludvig Aberg, who is leading after he completed his first 36 holes.

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19th Hole

‘The rules need to be enforced’ – Nelly Korda on slow play on the LPGA Tour

Published

14 hours ago

Jul 12, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

Slow play has once again become a topic of discussion in professional golf. Earlier this week, LIV Golf’s Thomas Pieters said he believes players on the DP World Tour are “cheating” due to the fact that they are knowingly taking more time to hit their shots than the rules allow.

It’s in the R&A’s rule book how much time you can take so in my eyes they are cheating.. ?????

— Thomas Pieters (@Thomas_Pieters) July 7, 2024

Yesterday, LPGA Tour superstar, Nelly Korda, spoke on the subject of slow play as well.

The 25-year-old is preparing for the Evian Championship this week, where Carlota Ciganda was disqualified last year for slow play.

After last year’s event, Nelly supported the decision that led to Ciganda’s disqualification.

“I really like Carlota. She’s a great person. I enjoy playing with her. I am a fast player, but I would say at the end of the day the rules of golf are the rules of golf, and it’s good that it’s being enforced.”

This week at her pre-tournament press conference, she doubled down on her stance.

“If I was a spectator and I was out here for five-and-a-half hours to six hours, you know, it’s tough to watch. You want to watch a sport that’s continuously moving and not continuously stalling. I would say I think it’s really important for the rules officials to enforce the rules of golf.”

“I just think the faster people play is better for the game,” Korda said. “The rules need to be enforced and we have seen that. I think the LPGA Tour is doing a better job. I still think there is some room for improvement, and it’s going to be better for the game of golf if there aren’t three groups on one hole.

“I know there is tough golf courses and conditions too that you need to take into account. But at the end of the day, the more we improve the pace of play the more people are going to be interested in watching, coming out and not just watching on TV.”

Korda comes into the major championship missing her last three cuts after winning six of eight events to start the season.