DeChambeau overpowers his driver
Bryson DeChambeau has been crushing drives with such ferocity that he’s become the talk of the PGA Tour. Then, during Thursday’s first round of the PGA Championship at Harding Park, he actually crushed his driver.
After hitting his tee shot into the right rough on No. 7, the short par4, DeChambeau leaned on his club to collect his tee and the shaft snapped near the bottom. He consulted with a rules official and learned he could replace the broken club.
“That was weird,” DeChambeau said as he carried the two pieces of the club up the fairway, with ESPN’s cameraman behind. “I guess it’s all those swings I put in,” he said with a laugh.
“I’m just glad I can replace it, that’s awesome. That’s a nice break.”
Adam Scott, who played in DeChambeau’s group, said the club seemed to break upon impact, when it made an unusual noise. DeChambeau didn’t hear anything strange, but the ball flight made him think something was amiss.
After completing his round of 68, he said, “You keep wearing it and using it like that, stuff is going to break down. The ball definitely didn’t react proper. I went over to pick up my tee, leaned on the club and it was, ‘See you later.’ … It’s just going to happen when you swing it that fast.”
DeChambeau didn’t need his driver for No. 8, a par3, so that bought him some time to get the club mended. He opted to affix a new shaft to the head, then teed off on No. 9 using the repaired club.
PGA rules expert Brad Gregory explained on the telecast that DeChambeau benefited from a rule that was implemented in 2019 for the championship.
“Breaking the pieces would meet the standard,” Gregory said. “If Bryson would have slammed it into the ground, for instance, that would be a different story. But since it happened without him abusing it, he would be allowed to replace it.”
Scott offered an amusing quip on DeChambeau’s muchhyped power after watching him up close for the first time since the tour’s resumption.
“He’s hitting it long, no doubt about it,” Scott said. “Not to put him down any, but I thought it was going to be longer (laughter). There’s been so much buildup, reading the news and listening to him and watching him play, I thought I was almost going to see one of those longdrive guys.” Day keeps rolling: Firstround coleader Jason Day saw this coming, in a sense. Day posted top10 finishes in his three starts before coming to San Francisco: tie for seventh at Workday, tie for fourth at the Memorial and tie for sixth Sunday in Memphis.
“There was definitely a lot of momentum coming in,” Day said after his bogeyfree 65. “The game feels like it’s coming around.”
Day is a 12time PGA Tour winner, including one major (the PGA Championship in 2015). Kaymer finds inspiration: Martin Kaymer arrived on the other end of the spectrum. He stayed home in Germany during the PGA Tour’s shutdown and missed the cut last week at the event in Truckee, so he brought zero momentum to Harding Park.
Kaymer, who won the 2014 U.S. Open in a rout, watched video of that victory Wednesday night on YouTube. That put him in a better mood — and then he shot 66 on Thursday.
“I needed to lift my spirits a little bit,” Kaymer said of finding the video. “I mean, there’s not much to do right now other than hanging out in your hotel room by yourself.”