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by Kevin Van Valkenburg
TROON — On Wednesday of the Open Championship, I walked nine holes with Bryson DeChambeau, hoping to get a little insight into his #process, and how it might conflict with the elements expected to greet him the following day.
After every shot, Bryson studies the readings on his launch monitor, and someone from his team takes a cell phone picture of the numbers. Every swing is then cataloged. Multiple shots get hit, and the process repeats. His swing coach, Dana Dahlquist, offers occasional suggestions, but for the most part, DeChambeau works through his thoughts out loud.
“How is it possible that is 1.4 right?” DeChambeau said Wednesday, watching in disgust as a drive peeled left, deep into the rough. “There is no way. No. Way.”
Maybe there is a glare on the ball that’s affecting the launch monitor, someone on his team suggested.
Maybe the temperature is messing with the readings, someone else mused.
“That wind should not affect that ball that much,” DeChambeau said, and several members of the team shrugged. DeChambeau reloaded.
The science did not support what he was feeling.
I’m not a betting man, but if that’s your vice, I would highly recommend fading DeChambeau at the Open Championship for the foreseeable future. What happened on Thursday was as predictable as the Scottish sunrise. (Which is to say: Mostly predictable.) DeChambeau, arguably the best overall player in the majors this season, looked like a glitching laptop in need of a Control + Alt + Delete reboot, particularly on the front nine. He went out in 42 and looked headed for a disastrous round before salvaging it a bit and shooting 76.
He was flummoxed by the wind change, the temperature change, and in general, the mysteries of links golf. He was even flummoxed by the English language afterward. When asked by Brendan Quinn of The Athletic if there were certain elements of links golf that were incalculable, he was quick to correct what he assumed was an error.
“Incalculatable,” DeChambeau said.
The Open Championship may not bring out the best in DeChambeau, but it does bring out an endlessly entertaining version of him.
Confidently Incorrect.
“I'm going to go figure it out,” DeChambeau said. “It's something equipment-related. The golf ball is … look, I'm not at 190 ball speed, so particularly when I'm hitting driver or 3-wood, those clubs are built for around that speed, that 190 ball speed, and my 3-wood around 180, so colder, firmer conditions the golf ball is not compressing as much. So it's probably something along those lines.”
If only we could play every major championship in a simulator.
It sounds like I’m making fun of him, but his success is often predicated on never accepting that user error might have been part of the problem, and I kind of admire it. He believes if the numbers are right, the ball is going to be right. And while that goes against everything we’ve come to know about links golf, that you can remove the magic and replace it with science, that delusion might help him win a lot of majors. (Just not this one.) I want him stubbornly trying to fight the Scottish, English and Irish wind for another decade, convinced he can be the first man to defeat it.
Bryson DeChambeau in the Open Championship is a gift that I want to unwrap every year and find new ways to be surprised. He wasn’t angry this year. The two-time U.S. Open winner answered every question with a smile on his face. There will never be anything quite as entertaining as his declaration back in 2021 that his “driver sucks.” In fact, he seemed very much at peace with it all.
“That's golf, my man,” he said. “It's frustrating.”
Amen, Bryson. We can absolutely agree on that.
Apple Podcasts: 870 - Thursday Open Championship Live Show
Spotify: 870 - Thursday Open Championship Live Show
Dan Brown (-6) is your solo leader through 18 holes at Royal Troon, followed by Shane Lowry (-5) and Justin Thomas (-3). We talked through the day that was for Shane, JT, Scottie, and Spieth and not for Ludvig, Rory, Tiger, and Tommy. TC attempts to apologize for Tommy Lad before we bring KVV in from the bullpen to talk Bryson. We close out the show with a couple of segments, discuss viewing options, and more.