Bryson DeChambeau was in the spotlight this Wednesday, less than 48 hours before the start of the LIV Golf tournament in Houston, participating alongside Martin Kaymer in an interesting press conference where he spoke about his recent second place in the PGA Championship, what he expects from next week in Pinehurst, where he will play the US Open, and the state of his game, among many other current topics.
Recalling the Valhalla tournament, the ‘scientist’ claims to have been surprised by his great result, as in his opinion, his game was not that good: “It’s funny because I really wasn’t hitting my best shots during the week. The equipment was working well. But I wasn’t at my best. I realised some things after the tournament, which is fantastic, but too late, obviously, for that”.
“But, I insist, I wasn’t hitting the ball as well as possible, so it was really surprising to see myself at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday. I certainly surprised myself a bit just by the way I was playing. In the end, I even had chances to win and ended up feeling frustrated, disappointed for not achieving it”, added Bryson about his participation in the second major of the season.
His goal was clear: “I wanted two players from the LIV to win the PGA Championship in consecutive years. It would have been great. But Xander played very well. I tip my hat to him, obviously, for doing what he did. Shooting 21 under par is very special. I gave it my all and that’s what I’m proud of. I did the best I could, it’s fun to feel those nerves and that pressure out there, that’s what we play for. We want to live that experience and give ourselves the chance to win”, he detailed.
Now, in addition to this Saudi tour event in Houston, DeChambeau has his sights set on next week’s US Open: “I played at Pinehurst in 2013, just before the US Open, with the SMU golf team, I think it could have been in 2012. Anyway, it was with the university team. We had a great time there. I know Bob Dedman, the owner of the course, who supports the SMU a lot, so we were able to go and play. I loved the challenge it presented. It was a lot of fun”.
“I played well that week we were there and I’ve always had good memories of Pinehurst and what Payne Stewart did. It’s a special golf course, a course where I played three or four holes, maybe a bit more, four or five months ago, in early January. I went to see the USGA and to talk a bit with them and I had a great time. It was an impressive golf test. I know they’re not the conditions we’ll be playing in next week, but the truth is I was able to see the course, its look, its feel, the way the greens roll and the slopes there are. It was fun, and I like that style of golf. It’s a course to play with irons”.
Returning to the LIV tournament, DeChambeau referred to the last-minute change in his team, the Crushers, for this week, with the loss of Charles Howell III: “Yes, I received a text message probably four or five days ago, telling me: ‘I’m sorry, I won’t be able to play. I broke my leg in half. No, I’m joking’. I think he has a stress fracture in his left leg. I think it’s a stress fracture. He told me he couldn’t play this week, but he was trying to be ready for Nashville, which is great”.
His substitute in Bryson‘s team will be John Catlin: “It’s funny, I’ve played a bit with John Catlin in junior golf. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s been playing some incredible golf. I thought he would fit in very well with the Crushers this week. I’m looking forward to having him on the team this week and helping me out”.
The Californian, a lover of innovation in the world of golf, answered a question about 3D irons and the possibility that one day all golf clubs will be created this way: “I don’t know. I think right now the process is much simpler: milling many heads with CNC than 3D printing them. Once it reaches a price point that makes sense, then maybe, but it’s a bit expensive. I don’t think it’s for mass consumption yet”.
“But it will come, and I’m looking forward to improvements in technology, because it would be great to have… imagine having a 3D printer at home and being able to print your own iron or do whatever you want. You can assemble it and go hit it that same afternoon. That’s great, compared to having a six-month process of creating prototypes and measuring it and making a couple of iterations; maybe one of them is right, one of them is wrong, but you just 3D printed a metal head in about an hour and you put a shaft on it and go hit it”, explained Bryson.
“Those days are coming. I don’t know how fast it will come, but it’s definitely a cool technology that we use, and hopefully it will become more known, because it’s the future. But it’s not here yet for mass consumption. I want it to come. I want it to come. The price has to come down quite a bit”, he concluded on this matter.
Finally, questioned about mental health in golf, he took the opportunity to refer to Grayson Murray, who passed away a few days ago: “First of all, I’m going to say that I knew Grayson quite well, and I really haven’t spoken publicly about this, but my heart goes out to his family. It’s not easy what he’s been through, what we all go through as professionals. My heart aches for him and his family”.
“Golf is not a forgiving sport. You’re put under a lot of pressure at an early age, especially when you’re good. I haven’t seen myself yet, but you have Jordan Spieth, you have Scottie, so many great golfers who have had experiences of pressures at an early age, and relating it to myself for a moment, there have been numerous times when I’ve doubted myself on a massive level. My team has experienced it. I’ve experienced it. Even just going out to LIV when I was playing terrible. Not at my level, when I missed 14 cuts in a row…”, he added.
“The pressure here is immense. We all have to take our mental health very seriously. When it comes to Miles, it’s an incredible opportunity, but… I think that’s why LIV is so amazing, because we have that team aspect where we can rely on each other, on your teammates. That’s what I was doing in Singapore last year. I was in a bad situation and those guys lifted me up. I’ve talked about it before. It would be a different situation if those guys weren’t here. If they weren’t there to push me forward and say, no, come on, Bryson, you can do it”, he explained referring to Miles Russell, who is going to debut on the PGA Tour at 15.
“Any tour you play, mini-tours or challenge tours, it doesn’t matter. The pressure is huge. For Miles, I think it’s going to be a good test for him. I hope he has the right people around him to keep pushing him in a positive direction, because at the end of the day we all need it”, he insisted.
“The aspect of mental health in golf is super important, and it’s a tragic loss we’ve had with Grayson because he was a good man, and I just think about all the times we played junior golf, like the world team championship in Bolingbrook, in fact, where we’re going this year. So it’s going to be a very tough time for me when I go out there because he was a friend. As much as he struggled, he was a friend and a good man, and the pressures of golf need to be taken seriously”, he added
“I wish Miles a lot of luck. I think he’ll do well. He’s a great golfer. But we all need to have a good support system, and that’s ultimately what LIV also provides”, concluded DeChambeau.
