Bryson DeChambeau has something up his sleeve for Augusta National.
“Hitting is past 320 is the goal, every time,” he said. “If I can do that, the golf course is open.”
DeChambeau joined the Drop Zone this week (Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean or on YouTube!) to break down down his U.S. Open win, his physical transformation, his childhood and his vision for the future. He also gave a sneak peek into his plan for tackling golf’s next major championship.
DeChambeau confirmed that with his newfound length, he should be able to overpower golf’s most famous course, accessing windows previously closed to his game. “Very much so. Like, Tiger, what Tiger did in ’97,” he said.
It’s an exciting proposition, but DeChambeau is also cognizant of the fact that while his new approach may be optimal strategy, it could represent a significant shift for viewers used to seeing Augusta played a certain way — and not everyone will enjoy that shift.
Simply put: Is this a good thing? Is Bryson DeChambeau breaking golf, as some people have argued since his win? He certainly doesn’t think so.
“I mean, look. I’m just using the knowledge, the speed, the power to the greatest advantage that I possibly can, under the rules of the game,” he said. “That’s all I’m doing. And there comes a point in time where, look, you still have to wedge it well.”
In other words, DeChambeau is just playing by the rules, and it’s still far from a long drive competition; he can’t just go out and bash the ball around eastern Georgia and expect to win without the other pieces of his game finely tuned as well. At the U.S. Open, for instance, he was in the top three in the field in Strokes Gained: approaching the green and around the green.
Still, the gains certainly help.
He’s far from done adding length; the U.S. Open was just a start. DeChambeau teased the idea that he’ll put a 48-inch driver into play someday soon; he said he’s been conducting some compelling tests.
“I’ll tell you that I did go out and I drove at least three greens and I played like five holes, six holes,” he said. “I won’t tell you how far it was or anything, but there’s some really interesting things going on right now.”
Dylan Dethier is a senior writer for GOLF Magazine/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in English, and he’s the author of 18 in America, which details the year he spent as an 18-year-old living from his car and playing a round of golf in every state.
