AUGUSTA, Ga. – The lingering image from Monday’s training day at Augusta National was Bryson DeChambeau’s rider jerking violently for riders on the track with seconds between turns with Vijay Singh standing behind him against his putter leaned back and grinned ear to ear in amazement.
« I told him he was impressive, » Singh told GolfChannel.com on Tuesday. “I wish I could do it – constant ball speed of 210 [mph]. It is really extraordinary. «
Singh, the 2000 Masters Champion and former world number one, was arguably DeChambeau ahead of DeChambeau, putting extra hours in the weight room and a driver-heavy strategy off the tee. He won’t call it bomb and rut, but it was Certainly extremely aggressive for the time.
At 58, Singh still goes to the gym hard for his age and told Jaime Diaz of Golf Channel on Monday that he could only imagine what he could have achieved with speed and distance if he had had access to DeChambeau’s technology and analytics and was using today’s generation.
DeChambeau was flattered to welcome his colleagues when Rory McIlroy admitted that DeChambeau’s US Open appearance at Winged Foot made him in had sent a rabbit hole, DeChambeau took it as a big compliment.
« I knew there would be people who would try, » said DeChambeau. « I didn’t know who would try but it is not an easy task. You have to get four or five things right in order for you to hit it further and straighter and implement it in a tournament round on the golf course. And I appreciate Rory’s words. From my point of view, I haven’t tried to change someone else’s game. I was just trying to play golf as well as possible. “
Singh said there is no question that more players will follow DeChambeau through similar rabbit holes to get longer. Whether this will succeed is another question. DeChambeau’s ability to generate these astronomical numbers is not easy to achieve.
« He hits it for a long time, he trains, he’s a hardworking guy, he spends hours trying to perfect what he’s doing. Right there it’s just pure skill, « said Singh on Tuesday. » It’s power, but he’s got a lot of skill and I think he should keep doing it. «
BY Amy Rogers
FROM Golf Channel Digital
BY Brentley Romine
Augusta National won’t play the way it did in November and expects Bryson DeChambeau to REALLY use his strength this time.
Officially, Bryson DeChambeau’s trip on the 10th hole (par 4) was 46 yards into the wrong one Direction, but it’s never that easy.
« Annoyed » may not be the best term for golf, but Day 1 definitely had a few surprises.
Ref: https://www.golfchannel.com
