PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. After his victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday, Bryson DeChambeau was asked if he intends to take a different approach with his height during the Players Championship as he did by hitting driver across the lake. on the par-5 sixth hole on Bay Hill.
“I thought about going to 9 on the left sometimes at 9,” DeChambeau said, referring to avoiding the lake that embraces the left side of the narrow 18th highway. ‘It just gives you a better chance in the green, where you can just hit it a little bit and you’ll always get it right. The cover (wear) is like 310 [yards], but we will see. I will look at all options if there is an advantage. But if not, I just hit 4-iron along the highway and hopefully an 8-iron or 7-iron in the green. ‘
On Tuesday morning, DeChambeau said he planned to “probably give it a chance, but it’s probably not going to happen.”
By Tuesday afternoon, the PGA Tour had issued a statement with a new local rule banning players from hitting to the ninth hole of the 18th.
‘In the interest of safety for spectators, volunteers and other staff, the Players Championship Rules Committee has installed an inner boundary outside the boundaries of the lake for playing hole 18. Similar cases of internal outer boundary for safety purposes took place at The Open championship (hole 9) in 2017, the Sony Open in 2021 in Hawaii (hole 13 and hole 18), and most recently the Arnold Palmer invitation in 2021 hosted by Mastercard (hole 6). ”
Since DeChambeau was almost certain not to tackle the shot in competition, the exchange was quite humorous.
After his victory on Sunday, when asked about tournaments that tried to change courses for him as they used to be ‘Tiger-proof’ to combat Tiger Woods ‘height, DeChambeau said:’ I do not think you can not be Bryson-proof. a golf course. ‘
However, there is a Bryson rule this week.