Tag: Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

LAS VEGAS – Big bad Bryson DeChambeau continued his assault on golf courses the country over by bashing TPC Summerlin into submission in Thursday’s first round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

But he was far from the only one that battered the desert layout.

A day after he shot 59 on his own ball during the pro-am – and missed an 8-footer for a 58 on the last hole – DeChambeau putted for eagle five times, made a career-best five consecutive birdies and matched his lowest round on the PGA Tour with a bogey-free 9-under-par 62 to grab the lead among the early finishers.

It wasn’t a fair fight on a windless, sun-drenched day as DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Open at rugged Winged Foot in his last start, hit nine tee shots past the 300-yard barrier, including a 365-yard blast that reached the green on the par-4 7th. He is the first player in the ShotLink Era that began in 2003 to drive the green.

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The No. 6 player in the world also drove the 315-yard par-4 15^th – with a 3-wood. The longest iron he used for an approach was a 6-iron – and that was for his second shot on the 583-yard par-5 13th. Seven of his nine birdies came from within six feet and he was equally satisfied with two 10-foot putts he made for par.

“There’s no wind out here for the most part and I feel like you can bomb it everywhere and hit wedges close,” DeChambeau said. “I didn’t hit it great today, but I still played really, really good. Just need to clean it up a little bitter. Just trying to hit it straighter.

“I just kept trying to keep myself in the flow like I was in the U.S. Open and just pounding forward, just keep making birdies, keep making birdies.”

Loads of birdies were to be had and the field was averaging 67.8 in the early going. Harold Varner III and Austin Cook each shot 63 to end one back of DeChambeau. Emiliano Grillo made six consecutive birdies en route to a 64, a score matched by Brian Stuard, Andrew Landry and Rob Oppenheim.

“You have to make birdies,” Varner said. “But you have to be patient. You can’t force it. You never know where you’re going to rip off five birdies in a row.”

DeChambeau, who won here in 2018, started his quest for a second Shriners title, his third title of 2020 and his eighth PGA Tour title alongside fellow bashers Cameron Champ (shot 67) and Matthew Wolff (68). The three combined to hit 28 tee shots that traveled at least 300 yards.

“It’s amazing to see the power that’s out here now,” DeChambeau said. “I think that’s a testament to the new generation that’s coming up and what it’s going to be like in the future.”

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Chesson Hadley had a ringside seat for DeChambeau’s 365-yard belt on the seventh hole. Hadley was told to back off his putt by his caddie, who saw DeChambeau’s launch come into the green. The ball landed in the rough just short of the green and bounced onto the putting surface. DeChambeau felt terribly about hitting into the group 365 yards away and apologized to the players.

But Hadley said all was good.

“The only thing that hurt was my ego,” Hadley said.

The feeling is mutual among many of his colleagues since DeChambeau, who led the PGA Tour in driving distance last season at 322.1 yards a pop, packed on nearly 50 pounds of mass and increased his ball and swing speed numbers. He’s having his way with most courses he’s playing.

“That’s five birdies right there and it makes the golf course a lot easier,” DeChambeau said of his five eagle attempts. “That lowers the par to 67 out here, and that’s just the number for me. If I shoot 69 or 70 I feel like I shot a couple over. And it can happen and that’s the advantage of power in this game now, that you can do those sorts of things.”

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LAS VEGAS – We’re going to need a bigger range.

Brawny Bryson DeChambeau is shaking up the golf world by knocking the cover off the ball since adding 40 pounds of mass to his already large frame and increasing his ball and clubhead speeds to ridiculous levels. Regularly cranking out drives in excess of 400 yards, DeChambeau has many in golf’s circles wondering if there’s a golf course that can contain him.

Well, in addition to possibly forcing golf clubs to add hundreds of yards of length to their existing layouts, DeChambeau might move the same clubs to make their driving ranges bigger.

On Tuesday afternoon at TPC Summerlin, home to this week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, DeChambeau was clearing the fence at the back of the range nearly 360 yards away. And he wasn’t swinging full-bore. He put a dent in one car and forced officials to ask him to move back on the range. So he moved 40 yards back – nearly off the range completely – to be safe.

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In a city known for its headliners, DeChambeau might be the biggest name on the marquee this week. He’s playing for the first time since he bludgeoned venerable and rugged Winged Foot to win the U.S. Open by six shots. He’s the clear cut favorite. Won here in 2018. And he thinks he can drive multiple par-4s.

“I would say four holes out here that I think I can go for,” DeChambeau said Wednesday before the pro-am.

With his power, the No. 6-ranked player in the world with seven PGA Tour titles can turn the 7,255-yard course playing to a par of 71 into a putt-putt by hitting it longer than anybody and higher than anybody. He’ll easily reach the three par-5s in two – likely with short irons.

“There will be holes where I’m going to try and drive them, get it up as close to the green as possible,” DeChambeau said. “It’s just fun having a 7-iron go 220. That’s unique. And 4-iron, 265. There will be holes where I had to hit 3-wood and now I’m hitting 4-iron off the tees.

“Kind of like I would say Atlanta (for The Tour Championship) a little bit where I was hitting 3-woods in the past and now hitting 4-irons off the tee, and just hitting it as far as everybody else.”

And he’s working as hard as he can to get even longer, inspired by another bomber who shook up the golf world and blasted golf courses into submission.

“I watched ‘Happy Gilmore’ a little while ago and just re-inspired me to try and hit it as far as possible,” DeChambeau said.

That means possibly introducing a 48-inch driver shaft – 2.5 inches longer than standard length. He’s been working with the longer clubs since the U.S. Open but said he won’t put it in play until possibly the Masters in November.

“I’m looking forward to trying to put in a 48-inch driver and see what that can do to the golf course and what opportunities it will present for me,” he said. “It’s going well. I think there is a lot of, I don’t know, I guess you could say advantages to having a 48-inch driver and being able to put it in play and keep it in play.

“Still need to get some things worked out, but so far it’s been pretty amazing.”

DeChambeau’s eye-opening length isn’t the part of the big show.

“People forget how good of a putter he is,” Shriners defending champion Kevin Na said. “People don’t give him enough credit for how good of a putter he is and how good he reads the greens.

“You can’t win golf tournaments without making putts. You got to realize that this guy makes a lot of putts. Not only does he hit bombs, he makes bombs.”

DeChambeau knows this all too well and will keep working on not only getting longer but getting better in every aspect of his game.

“At the same point in time it’s about putting, chipping, wedging,” he said. “You still got to do everything else really well. So if I play well, ball strike it well, and putt well, I think I’ll have a good chance again.

“Love this golf course.”

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