BRY OF RELIEF
Big hitter made to sweat on and off the course as he just makes the cut at Augusta after boasts
Boasts about tearing up Augusta almost came back to haunt Bryson DeChambeau as he was made to sweat right until the end of the second round before making the Masters cut.
The US Open champion, whose big hitting since bulking up during lockdown has sent shockwaves through golf, could only finish on level par after completing his second 18 yesterday.
That was right on the projected cut mark so he was forced to wait anxiously before the rest of the field came back into the clubhouse.
Had Rafa Cabrera Bello or former champion Jordan Spieth birdied their last hole and 2003 winner Mike Weir of Canada made par or better then
DeChambeau would have been going home.
Rory McIlroy showed him how it should be done yesterday as he added a 67 to
Friday’s 66 to be e i g ht u nd e r heading into his final round.
The Northern Irishman said: “I set a target to try to get to double digits under par but just didn’t get there. I’ve probably given myself too much to do after the 75 on the opening day.
“I’ll just have to see where this leaves me at the end of the day. I’ll probably need something a few lower than today.” In the build-up to the final Major of the year, DeChambeau claimed his power off the tee would help him dominate Augusta, insisting par for him would be 67 instead of the standard 72. But his f irst two rounds made that claim look foolish, with former Masters winner Greg Norman among those taking pleasure in his toil.
The Aussie legend said: “Bryson’s kiss of death was when he said Augusta is a par 67 for him.
“When you go out there and say that, the golfing gods hear that in the pine trees.”
That came after DeChambeau had finished day two on one over with six holes remaining.
But the gods seemed to be smiling on him when play resumed yesterday.
He had missed his eagle attempt on the 13th when play began but the resulting birdie was his second in succession and was followed by further gains on the 14th and 16th.
However, the 27-year-old then bogeyed the last two holes to fall back to level par and faced a nervous wait before discovering he had made the cut on the mark.
Being made to sweat it out has been a common theme for him since the Masters began, with DeChambeau complaining of feeling unwell on Friday.
He underwent a Covid-19 test, which came back negative, but he still didn’t feel himself as he managed to sneak under the cut line. DeChambeau said: “I was feeling a little weird two nights ago and I came out yesterday and was fine for the most part.
“As I kept going through the round I started getting a little dizzy. I don’t know what was going on, something weird.
“So I got checked for Covid last night and I was fine – nothing. But I had to do the right thing and make sure there was nothing more serious than that.
“I don’t know what it is or what happened but these past couple days I have felt really, really odd and just not 100 per cent.
“I just feel kind of dull and numb out there, just not fully aware of everything and making some silly, silly mistakes for sure.”
One of those came on Friday at the parfour third, where DeChambeau could not find his lost ball within the three-minute time limit after a drive into the muddy rough.
To add insult to injury, a marshal located the ball a few minutes later. DeChambeau said: “Definitely throws you for a loop when the guy goes and gives you the ball on the fourth tee box (and says) ‘Oh, I found it’.
“It just seems there’s a lot of things going not the right way.
“I’ve played worse golf than this and won. It’s golf. You can’t control everything as much as you try.”
Defending champion Tiger Woods discovered as much yesterday as a thirdround 72 left him five under, way off the top.