MAMARONECK, NY – Bryson DeChambeau has mapped his approach for Winged Foot.
Hit driver.
Difficult.
“I’m hitting as far as possible up there,” he said after a practice round on Tuesday at the US Open. “Even if it’s raw, I can still take it to the front edge or center of the green with pitching wedges or 9 irons. This is the beauty of my length and that edge. “
DeChambeau’s strategy, not surprisingly, goes against some of his peers, who said they would emphasize putting the ball in play more often to avoid the long, lumpy rough. In fact, just minutes before DeChambeau’s presser, Rory McIlroy spoke in the interview area. “I’d still love to hit fairways in addition to hitting 350 in the rough here,” McIlroy said.
But DeChambeau disagrees, saying he will still be able to pull any shot out of the rough and advance it close to the green, especially with so many shaved areas in front that allow the ball to run across the putting surface.
“For the most part,” he said, “I’ll try to chase him as much as possible.”
And soon there may be even more length on the horizon.
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Golf. He’s tinkered with that length before – he typically uses a 45 1/2-inch model – but didn’t have the proper shaft stiffness and “that thing went everywhere. I had no control.” He and his team are currently working to develop a shaft stable enough to touch 210-mph ball speed – and that, when ready, he’d employ it in a Tour event." data-reactid="33">After this week, DeChambeau said he will begin testing a 48-inch driver shaft, the maximum length allowed by the rules of golf. He tinkered with that length before – he typically uses a 45 1/2 inch model – but he didn’t have the proper shaft stiffness and “that thing went all over the place. I had no control. “He and his team are currently working on developing a shaft stable enough to touch the ball speed of 210 mph – and that, when ready, would use it in a Tour event.
“If it’s as consistent as what I’m doing now, there’s no reason why (he wouldn’t use it),” he said. “If I had a ball speed of 205mph, I’d use it everywhere out here. It would be even more of an asset to me.
“There’s this tipping point where if you’re around 180 and trying to get faster, but it gets a lot more drastically off-line, it really doesn’t help that much. You don’t make much money. But once you start getting 195 to 200 to 205, even if you miss so much off the line, you’re so close to the green, that’s too big of a lead to take away. “
