Macintyre not out to copy ‘absolute monster’ Dechambeau
Bob Macintyre insists he has no desire to become an “absolute monster” like Bryson Dechambeau and try to tame courses with sheer power.
US Open champion Dechambeau revealed he’d recorded a ball speed of 211mph on the range in the PGA Tour’s Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii a fortnight ago.
It was down to around 19394mph out on the golf course, but he is determined to keep pushing himself to new limits.
In the build-up to the Masters in November, Dechambeau had also been toying with the idea of putting a 48-inch driver in his bag to get extra length at Augusta National before opting to go with a regular one.
“I’m miles back,” said Macintyre as he prepared for this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the opening event of the new European Tour season, in reply to being asked about his ball speed. “I’ll be 175-180 mph.
“He (Bryson) is an absolute
monster. He’s miles ahead of everyone. He is pushing the limit. When he was saying he was going to try the longer driver, everyone was trying it.
“I’ve not tried it yet as I feel my strengths are my driving accuracy. Unless something drastically changes in the game of golf, I’ll still be able to compete.”
As he sets out at the start of his third season as a European Tour card holder, Macintyre revealed one of the steps he now takes after paying close attention to how some of the game’s top players go about their business.
“I’ve played a lot of practice rounds with the top guys and I like to study them, not their swings because that’s Davie’s job,” he said, referring to his coach, David Burns. “I’ve looked more at how they carry themselves and what they do on the course.
“I used to play practice rounds with my phone in my back pocket and also on the range. Now I’ve stopped that. I’ve got quite a few messages from back home right now from my parents etc and I’ve not had time to look at them.
“When I’m on the course and range, I’m there to do work because that’s my job and, if that can help me get a little better and more focused, it’s going to improve me by one percent, the phone has to go away.”