The incredible bulk
How Bryson used lockdown to change his shape and his game en route to runaway US Open win
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU aims to add 10 more pounds of muscle for the Masters – with Rory McIlroy baffled by the success of his bomb and gouge style.
The barrel-chested American won his first Major with a six-shot US Open triumph at Winged Foot after adding 40 pounds of muscle in the last year.
The not so Mad Professor used his brawn and brain to overpower and out-think the fearsome course.
Now the man who weighs 230 to 235lbs (16.4 to 16.7 stones) “depending on if I’ve eaten steak or not” wants to get bigger and stronger – to boost his ball speed above 200mph.
The 6ft 1in Californian is already planning a supersized attack on the revered Augusta National in seven weeks’ time – after celebrating this one with chocolate milk.
The world No.5 said: “Do I want to get bigger for Augusta? Yeah. I think I can get to 245.
“It’s going to be a lot of working out but I still feel like I can get up there if you work hard enough.
“I’m not going to stop. Next week I’m going to be trying a 48-inch driver. We’re going to be messing with some head designs and do some amazing with things with Cobra to make it feasible to hit these drives maybe 360, 370, maybe even farther. Length is going to be a big advantage there. I know that for a fact.”
The 27-year-old used his big biceps to shred the conventional US Open game plan of patiently avoiding the rough, instead launching drives to leave the shortest second shot possible.
He then used brute force to blast his way out of the four-inch rough.
After all of that, DeChambeau was the only player to finish under par after a closing 67 left him six under.
That was despite hitting only 41 per cent of fairways – still better than the field average of 39 per cent, it should be said – as he finished in the top five for greens in regulation.
DeChambeau, winner of the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July, said: “I kept telling everybody it’s an advantage to hit it farther.
“I’m definitely changing the way people think about the game. I hope I can inspire some people.”
The uber confidence of the former physics major can also annoy, while he has a habit of being painfully slow to watch. But the new Major winner showed rare emotion in thanking his parents Jon and Jan on Sunday.
“There were times I went to school without any lunch money,” he said.
And you don’t have to like him to appreciate the dedication.
He may swing like a baseball player but he showed the touch of a Carnegie Hall pianist around the greens in New York.
All the while he has developed a thick skin to ignore barbs about his controversial style.
The former US Amateur champion has now won seven PGA Tour titles and the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour with his fat grips plus irons and wedges of identical length.
But he still embarked on an extreme diet of eggs, bacon, steak, potatoes plus protein shakes and bars – on top of working out twice a day – to reinvent himself during lockdown.
Coach Chris Como converted his living room into a laboratory with a net, putting green and 3D motion cameras to adapt the golfer’s game.
DeChambeau said: “There are always going to be people who say things. But I felt like it was an opportunity, not a lost year at all.
“I felt like it was an opportunity to do something great – change my lifestyle, make it healthier, make it better – and I hope it inspires everybody else to do the same. When you have time, when you have that little free moment, don’t squander it. Look at it as an opportunity to make yourself better.”
Asked if his weight gain could be bad for his health, he added: “I am talking to a doctor. I got all my blood sample tests, everything back a couple weeks ago. Everything is fine so far.
“We’re going to keep monitoring it and making sure I’m as healthy as possible because I do want to live for a long time.”
DeChambeau planned to celebrate with a meal of steak and potatoes. “I’ll party but I won’t drink – that’s not me,” he said. “But I’ll drink chocolate milk.”
McIlroy was ahead of him in driving distance but still finished up 12 shots back.
The world No.4 said: “I don’t really know what to say because that’s just the complete opposite of what you think a US Open champion does.
“It’s kind of hard to really wrap my head around it. He’s found a way to do it. Whether that’s good or bad for the game, I don’t know. And if he can do it around here, I’m thinking of Augusta and the way you sort of play there.
“About the guy, it’s brilliant – but he’s taken advantage of where the game is at the minute.”
Lawmakers could now finally act to curtail driving distance, with DeChambeau following bash brothers Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka into the band of Major winners.
DeChambeau said: “It’s tough to rein in athleticism. We’re always going to be trying to get fitter, stronger, more athletic and Tiger inspired this whole generation to do this. We’re going to keep going after it. I
don’t think it’s going to stop.”