Bryson DeChambeau not ruling out taking a Tiger Woods-inspired Plan B in the Open
- Matt Cooper
- 13 July 2021
The big-hitter will attack Royal St George’s if it remains soft but, should the course get fiery at the weekend, he’ll change tack.
How to back Bryson DeChambeau
Ever since Bryson DeChambeau revealed his new physique, and the new mode of attack that came with it, golf has wondered what it will take to tame his desire to smash the ball mammoth distances from the tee box.
It might be that the R&A and Royal St George's have found the answer.
"It's an amazing golf course," the 2020 US Open champion said at the start of his Tuesday press conference, before revealing that even he has found the rough both difficult to miss and troublesome to escape from.
The bomb-and-gouge method that has earned him victories elsewhere is not looking like the ideal plan. Whisper it, but even he is thinking "find the fairways and avoid three-putting". Old-fashioned stuff, but called for.
Diabolical
"It's pretty interesting," he continued. "There's a certain amount of holes that you can kind of go after it and there's a couple that you can't. I could barely get it out sometimes. It's pretty diabolical.
"I hope I can hit it far enough to where I can wedge it out onto the green if I get good enough lies, but there's certain lies out there it's going to be a pitch back to the fairway, and that's including for everybody.
Bryson DeChambeau was heated about the yelling “fore” question 🤣 #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/t7UyrPqnye
— Amanda Rose (@amandagolf59) July 13, 2021
"Even if you're hitting it 300-yards off the tee and it goes into the hay, it's not easy to get to the green from there.
"I hope that length will be a little bit of an advantage. I just have to drive it well."
Not panicking
Thus far in his Open career he's not had a great time of it. He's missed two cuts and finished T51st in his only other appearance.
His first round record is even worse, logging scores of 76, 75, 74. About the only good thing to be said for them is that he's heading in the right direction.
Despite those returns, he insists he is not panicking.
"The times I've played in Opens in the past, I think they've been a little wet and windy. I usually struggle in those conditions.
"Hopefully if we get a little bit of a dry week, I can get the wind under control in my brain, hopefully I can have a good week.
"I love links golf. I've shot low numbers over here before, but it's about putting it together for four rounds and making sure my game is pretty repeatable
"This is also the first time I've taken my length to links golf. We'll see how that plays. Maybe it plays out week; maybe it doesn't. I'll keep trying to figure it out.
"If I get in there more times than not into the hay, probably not going to have a good chance this week."
Tiger
Should the course dry out at the weekend and make the fairways fast, he's not ruled out taking inspiration from the approach of Tiger Woods at Hoylake in 2006.
"I look at Tiger and what he did back in the early 2000s, hitting 7- and 8-irons off every tee," he said. "That's an interesting thought process that may come into play here soon, but there's too many places out here where covering some of those bunkers is a huge advantage no matter what, so that's kind of the game plan I'm going to take as of right now.
"But what Tiger showcased is an awesome ability to play it on the ground, play links on the ground, which is the way it should be played, albeit I do something completely different.
"I have the utmost respect for that style of play. I think there's certain advantages to hitting it long in certain places, but not everywhere. There will be certain holes where there is a lot of wind and you can't really control the golf ball with that type of wind, where it bounces, how it bounces.
"So keeping it low and on the ground if it gets firm is definitely something I would utilise."
Pace
He is also convinced that the Americans will need to adapt to the greens.
"Speed control is going to be huge. If I don't three-putt this week, I'll have a pretty good chance going into Sunday.
"The green are definitely severe and you have to make sure you're in the right areas relative to the pins. There's a couple low areas that you can get yourself into that you're hitting up 15 to 20 per cent slopes, and that can be quite treacherous and difficult trying to control speed.
"Then having 60-, 70-, 80-footers on certain holes, for us Americans, we play on speeds that are around 11s and these are a little bit under that, and it makes for a little bit of a challenge that we all have to adjust to.
"Not three-putting is going to be a huge key to winning this week."
