Important week for DeChambeau
NORTON — With two wins and four other top-5s under his belt this season, it would seem that Bryson DeChambeau has done enough to warrant a selection to the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
When the eight automatic selections were finalized following the PGA Championship, the 24-year-old in his second year on the PGA Tour was left dangling at No. 9.
He also entered the FedEx Cup playoffs at No. 9 and quickly vaulted to the top spot by winning last week’s Northern Trust by 4 shots, leading by at least two over the entire final afternoon.
American captain Jim Furyk will make his first three of four captain’s selections on Tuesday, the day after the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston concludes. The final member of the U.S. team heading to Paris will be announced on Sept.10, a day after the BMW Championship.
“I finished one out of the top eight. I won a playoff event. I’ve had, I think, I don’t even know the number, but around nine top10s (it’s actually eight), so I have had a great year,” said DeChambeau. “Would I say it’s enough for the captain? That’s up to his discretion.
“Again, it’s still one more week. If I don’t go out and play well, then you never know. But same point in time, if I go out and do my job and execute shots and play well and finish well, contend, I think there’s a very, very good possibility I’ll be picked.”
The playoff win earned him a congratulatory text from the captain.
He practices a lot with Tiger Woods, who also finds himself on the short list of names Furyk is mulling over, leading to speculation that the two could become four-ball or alternate shot partners at the Ryder Cup.
“It would be an honor to play with him. I think we could have some great chemistry out there and hopefully, maybe, intimidate some people. That would be nice,” DeChambeau said. “But nothing is finalized yet, and this week I’m just going to try to play my best so I can get on that team.”
While not wanting to say too much about the conversations he has had with Woods, he did say they discuss ways to stay patient and focus.
DeChambeau said that brain training exercises he has been working the last few weeks have also helped settle him.
“Last week in certain situations when I didn’t execute a shot properly, my heart rate got up,” he said. “I was able to control it and get it back down, based on breathing and stuff like that.”
A physics major at Southern Methodist, DeChambeau moves to his own drumbeat. The length of a club’s shaft on a typical set gets shorter as a club adds loft, but all of his are the same length. Earlier this summer, the USGA said he could no longer use a drawing compass as part of his green-reading material.
But he is also someone who has separated himself from his peers very quickly. In 2015, he joined Jack Nicklaus (1961), Phil Mickelson (1990), Woods (1996) and Ryan Moore (2004) to win the NCAA individual championship and U.S. Amateur title in the same year.
A year ago in his TPC Boston debut, DeChambeau tied for 30th at 3-under par 281 after opening with rounds of 69-67.
“This golf course warrants a lot of ball-striking and great putting, just like any other golf course I would say,” he said. “But this one, it’s just different in regards to some of the shots you’ve got to hit on certain holes.
“And for me, I like that. I think it requires great ballstriking capabilities, just like last week, and hopefully it suits me well.”