DECHAMBEAU HAS BEEN BUILDING TO THIS 65 FOR EIGHT MONTHS
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Last August at Greenbrier, Bryson DeChambeau fell in love with a new driver, then shot 61-58 on the weekend to win for the first time since joining LIV Golf.
After that final putt rolled in Sunday afternoon for an historic 12-under 58, the Crushers GC captain celebrated with caddie Greg Bodine and then offered this comment that now seems a bit prophetic.
“I can’t wait for April.”
Well, April’s here, and in Thursday’s first round of the Masters, DeChambeau showed what he’s been building towards for the last eight months, shooting a 7-under 65 that is his best score relative to par in 97 career rounds in majors. In the process, he now sits atop the clubhouse leaderboard; the first round was delayed due to weather and will be completed early Friday.
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“That was one of the best rounds of golf I've played in a long time,” said DeChambeau, who seeking his second major title to go with his 2020 U.S. Open win at Winged Foot. “There's three more days to go, and I'm not losing sight of that fact, that it's right there in front of me. Just got to go execute.”
The two players immediately behind DeChambeau on the clubhouse leaderboard are Scottie Scheffler (66) and Danny Willett (68). Both already own green jackets.
DeChambeau, meanwhile, has never fared well at Augusta National. His best result remains a T21 in 2016 when he claimed low amateur honors while Willett became the first English champion in 20 years. Entering this week, the Masters remains the only major in which DeChambeau doesn’t have at least one top-10 finish.
“Why have I struggled? I don't know,” DeChambeau said. “Only God knows that. For me, I can theorize on what it is, but there's really no need to.”
Perhaps the better theory to focus on is why he played so well Thursday, which started with three consecutive birdies and finished with five birdies on his last seven holes.
It actually goes back last year to Greenbrier when he put a Krank Golf Formula Fire driver in his bag for the first time. The company is known more for its long-distance competition success, and DeChambeau was the perfect elite golfer to take it into the mainstream. It was a club that finally gave him the confidence of increased forgiveness at high speeds.
Not only did he win at Greenbrier, he followed with another individual title in LIV Golf Chicago. In the offseason, he then worked in a January visit to Augusta National to give his new driver a test-run. Since then, he’s added Krank Golf 3- and 5-woods to his bag.
Although he hasn’t won an individual title this season, he entered the Masters with four consecutive top-10 finishes, including a tie for seventh last week in Miami. Meanwhile, he’s still been able to raise a couple of trophies, with his Crushers winning consecutive titles in Jeddah and Hong Kong.
“I know this game is ever-changing and it's always moving. It's a moving target,” DeChambeau said. “But for me, it's going back to that day, those few days I played shooting 61, 58 on the weekend and going, all right, what did I do there that was so good, and how do I keep doing it?
“... I'm in a place now where I've figured some stuff out with my golf game, golf swing. I'm just in a comfortable place where I'm doing the same thing every single week. I feel like it's just ingraining consistently over the course of time. I'm not trying new things, not doing new things. I'm just doing more of the same.”
Well, mostly the same.
DeChambeau did say he changed out his irons this week. He wasn’t happy with the way his Ping i230s performed at Doral and so he switched to Avoda Golf prototypes from 5-iron through pitching wedge. He had been experimenting with the Avoda irons since the start of the season – and he practiced with them during another quick trip to Augusta recently – but had yet to use them in competition until getting notice from the USGA on Tuesday that they were approved for competition.
Don’t underestimate the positive impact on DeChambeau’s game now that he’s fully comfortable with his equipment.
“It was just great to see how the driver and irons were performing leading into this week, knowing that I was a different golfer with the equipment I had and the mindset I had,” he said. “So it was very important. And the difference is definitely equipment. It's also being more patient and knowing what the golf course can give you and what it can take away and respecting it.”
DeChambeau will now try to follow in the footsteps of his new LIV Golf competitor Jon Rahm, who shot an opening 65 last year to share the first-round lead and eventually rally in the final round to overtake Brooks Koepka and win his first green jacket and second major title.
“It's exciting,” DeChambeau said. “You never know what this week is going to bring. You never know how things are going to shake out, but it certainly is exciting to see some good golf with the equipment that I have.”
(Photo courtesy of Chloe Knott/Masters)