PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – During the second round of the Players Championship, an entertaining crew of the world’s best golfers presented themselves around the tournament. But for several hours, most fans were caught up in another matter: whether Bryson DeChambeau would hit a sensible iron or hit a huge lash with his driver hole after hole.
In this recurring drama, it seemed as if most of the roughly 10,000 spectators allowed on the spacious grounds of the TPC Sawgrass golf course had packed up behind DeChambeau as he stood on a tea box and deliberated to ‘ a par-4 or a par-4 best to attack. 5. The tension was palpable, and the fans were silent as DeChambeau moved to his golf bag.
As DeChambeau later explained, the reaction when he finally pulled an iron out of his pocket was as if the crowd had seen a child’s newly purchased ice cream cone fall and splash on the ground.
“It’s always like a big ‘Awwww’ for an iron,” DeChambeau said after his round Friday.
What if he snatches his giant driver out of his pocket? Think of the climate scene in which a hero finally defeats the villain.
“If it’s the driver, it’s like, ‘Yes! “DeChambeau said with a hearty grin.
It came down to this at the PGA Tour, and maybe that’s not a surprise. Winning golf is entertainment, but it does not match a dose of charisma mixed with the appearance of a golf ball broken to 380 meters.
The DeChambeau era in professional golf for men continues with a resounding impact. After Friday’s round, Rory McIlroy, a four-time championship winner who missed the track, blamed him for trying to play too much like DeChambeau for his poor performance.
While hitting the towering hits, DeChambeau, the reigning U.S. Open champion, also shot a three-under-par 69 on Friday that put him at six under for the tournament and only three strokes behind the leader in the second round Lee Westwood. The game was suspended on Friday night due to darkness, with a small number of players unable to complete their second rounds.
DeChambeau, who defeated Westwood in a final with the Arnold Palmer invitation last weekend, is clearly in the attention of fans. Their energy seems to inspire him, though he might not hit the driver as often as he would have liked on the strict TPC Sawgrass layout. Between shots, he chatted freely and warmly with the crowd.
“They always ask how many protein shakes I had, which is funny,” he said, “and I always answer back with how much I still had that day, mostly.”
Protein shakes are a staple of the diet that could help DeChambeau gain 40 pounds last year, although he has now reduced by at least 15. By way of explanation, DeChambeau said he had consumed only four tremors by Friday afternoon or about half of his intake four months ago.
While DeChambeau hit some exceptional driving shots and approaching shots on Friday, finishing with five birdies and a double bow, he was disappointed by his hitting ball, and shortly after his lap to the practice court. He still hit balls there three hours later.
Asked if he would ever leave the golf course satisfied and skip the practice round, DeChambeau, 27, said: “Never. Because my brain is – I mean, I’m a perfectionist, and I’ll stay that way until the day I die and until the day I stop playing this game. It’s just the way I am. I love it. ”
He smiles and adds, “But at the same time it makes me very worried about things.”
Although DeChambeau once again threw a huge shadow at a PGA tournament, he was by no means the only golfer to make news.
Emerging 23-year-old Viktor Hovland, who is ranked 13th in the world, partially missed the cut on Friday because his mother, who was watching the tournament at home in Norway, noticed a breach of the rule he had in the first place. times committed. around and mention it later to his attention. Her intervention led to a two-sentence sentence.
Hovland finished Friday at two over before the tournament, or two strokes above the cut line. He got the penalty for accidentally playing from the wrong spot on the 15th green in the first round on Thursday.
As usual, Hovland moved his ball out of a contestant’s dive line. But then he fails to replace it in the right place, though he does not move it closer to the hole or gain a clear advantage.
According to the NBC broadcast of the Players Championship on Friday, Hovland received a call from his mother after the first round and then contacted PGA Tour officials, who watched the video of the incident and confirmed Hovland’s mistake.
‘That is a shame; I have already passed it to myself, “Hovland said calmly after he shot 74 on Friday. “I’m just more disappointed because I could not play better.”
Hovland was nowhere near as comforting as McIlroy, who shot 75 on Friday after a striking 79 on Thursday. Like so many others during this year’s Players’ Championship, McIlroy carried DeChambeau to heart, and he believes that trying to keep up with DeChambeau’s amazing distance has led to his recent subplay.
Late last year, after DeChambeau’s US Open victory, McIlroy, who had already been one of the longest-running hits on the tour, changed his swing in an effort to make his chips even bigger.
“I would be lying if I said it had nothing to do with what Bryson did during the US Open,” McIlroy said. ‘I think a lot of people saw it and were like,’ Whoa, if this is the way they’ll set up golf courses in the future, it’s helping. ”
McIlroy now considers it a mistake.
“I thought it was a good thing to get more speed,” he said. ‘And maybe – to the detriment of my swing – I got there. But maybe I should just take it back a little bit. ‘