PGA Championship: Bryson DeChambeau grabs the driver during the opening lap

But then things started to fall apart. Literally.

The 26-year-old, who had never achieved a top 10 result in a major, then apparently leaned against his driver so strongly that the club’s head actually fell off the shaft, much to the astonishment of his game partners. Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott.

Number 7 in the world, which ended its opening lap three strokes behind co-leader and 2015 champion Jason Day and matched four-time winner Woods, later revealed that the driver had become a worn tool in his pocket .

“This material won’t last forever,” he said after finishing a two-under-68 win.

“No matter how hard you do it, but the thing took over a year and swung it over 200 miles an hour. I would say it’s pretty well done.”

Meanwhile, Scott, the 2013 Masters winner, had a front row seat for the surreal chain of events.

“It definitely made a weird sound and the ball had a funny flight and then he barely leaned on it and the shaft snapped. It says it happens when you swing as hard as he does.”

But it could have been a lot worse for DeChambeau.

He would have been relieved to learn that he was able to replace his currently most powerful golf weapon according to the local rules introduced last year – he is the biggest batsman on the PGA Tour with an average driving distance of 324.4 meters – because his misfortune was completely accidental .

It still meant that a team member had to drive to DeChambeau’s car to get a replacement shaft for his racket, while completing the hole himself and then having to do his own repair to put the new shaft back on.

But the forced change didn’t hinder him too much. The next time he needed his driver, he was at the ninth hole that he was bird watching.

In fact, DeChambeau responded superbly to adversity, hitting the ball an average of almost 20 meters after his club broke, with an average of just under 340 meters.

The Californian, who recently won his sixth PGA Tour title in Detroit at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where his drives averaged a record 350 meters, said he had even tested the replacement before the tournament, he “knew that it would work. “

“To be able to reinstall another stem and let it go great, it just shows how great this company is.”

A return to form?

After Woods was five months away from golf due to a back injury and pandemic, he returned to the competition last month and finished 40th at the Memorial Tournament.

However, he did better at his opening round in the first major of the year, having returned to familiar ground at TPC Harding Park after playing there as a junior and at Stanford University.

He ended with a two-under-68, his lowest opening round in a major since 2012.

The 44-year-old is chasing a record-breaking fifth PGA championship title, with Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus each winning five. He is also looking for an 83rd PGA Tour win as he is currently most of the time connected to Sam Snead.

One of the most notable changes Woods made to his game is that he switched to a longer putter, which took the strain off his back.

And the move showed positive signs Thursday when he made 114 feet, 9 inch putts, his season high for one lap.

“I played with this putter for almost a year,” said the 15-time main winner. “Sometimes it is difficult for me to bend down, so I do not practice the hours I used to do when I was putting.

“It was not uncommon for me to spend four, five, six hours a day putting. I definitely cannot log this when my back is fused. Most of the guys on the Champions Tour are older like them for longer putters because it’s easier to bend down or not to bend down. So this putter is just a little bit longer and I was able to spend a little bit more time putting. “

Brooks Koepka, who is looking for a third consecutive PGA championship title, is a shot behind co-leaders Australian Day and Brendon Todd.