It’s always fascinating to get inside the minds of PGA Tour players. It’s all the more interesting when that player is Bryson DeChambeau, who seems to think about the game of golf on a different plane than may others.
Sure, the press conference quips are fun, but sometimes they feel manufactured to a degree. He’s got to cultivate his “brand” as the mad scientist, so he throws out flowery prose on his scientific philosophy regarding the game. But we don’t often get a chance to know what’s going on in his head when he’s inside the ropes.
That changed when DeChambeau stepped onto the 11th tee during the third round of the U.S. Open and NBC’s mics caught his “conversation” with caddie Tim Tucker. As NBC announcer Dan Hicks puts it, “Bryson led the conversation.”
DeChambeau: Miss left? Toast. If I miss it right in that bunker — toast. If I a little short, I can run it up the right-hand side still. If I hit a bad drive out of the right, it’s going to be tough to even get it close then … It’s going to be tough to get it close anyway, but if I hit a good drive and it goes in that bunker, that’s a little difficult.
Tucker: 258 to the bunker.
DeChambeau: On the left?
Tucker: Yeah.
Hicks took over from there as he added his thoughts from the hit-mic conversation.
Hicks: I mean, that’s a lot of information, Zing, and that’s how his mind works. It’s just in constant motion. He’s grabbing a little snack — he needs some energy after that.
And just like that, off they went back to their insulated world inside the ropes. DeChambeau eventually hit his drive into the right rough and, much like he predicted, was unable to get the ball close enough for a good look at birdie. But fear not, he was able to two putt — with some clever use of the slopes on the green, and headed for the 12th tee.
There were no mics able to pick up his conversation on that tee box, but we imagine his brain was working just as fast.
