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| Amateur Bryson DeChambeau takes a scientific approach to his first Masters | Amateur Bryson DeChambeau takes a scientific approach to his first Masters |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| AUGUSTA, Ga. — There is about 12 percent of variance between the lengths of the longest and shortest irons in a typical golfer’s bag, from a 1-iron that generally runs to 39 ½ inches for a 6-foot-tall man, down to a lob wedge of about 35 inches. It has been so, with occasional and minor modifications to suit individual tastes, for as long as anyone can remember, and few would even think to question the wisdom behind it, let alone deviate radically from it. | AUGUSTA, Ga. — There is about 12 percent of variance between the lengths of the longest and shortest irons in a typical golfer’s bag, from a 1-iron that generally runs to 39 ½ inches for a 6-foot-tall man, down to a lob wedge of about 35 inches. It has been so, with occasional and minor modifications to suit individual tastes, for as long as anyone can remember, and few would even think to question the wisdom behind it, let alone deviate radically from it. |
| But as is becoming clear this spring, with arguably the most discussed amateur golfer since Tiger Woods preparing to make his Masters debut Thursday, there is at least 12 percent of variance between Bryson DeChambeau and the average golfer. | But as is becoming clear this spring, with arguably the most discussed amateur golfer since Tiger Woods preparing to make his Masters debut Thursday, there is at least 12 percent of variance between Bryson DeChambeau and the average golfer. |
| That variance is evident in his look — he favors a Ben Hogan-style “newsboy” cap — and in his conversations, in which the former physics major at Southern Methodist frequently drops references to the scientific equations that he sees as the basis of the game. It is evident in his curious, “zero-shift” swing, adapted from a dense, physics-based (and frequently derided) instruction book called “The Golfing Machine.” | That variance is evident in his look — he favors a Ben Hogan-style “newsboy” cap — and in his conversations, in which the former physics major at Southern Methodist frequently drops references to the scientific equations that he sees as the basis of the game. It is evident in his curious, “zero-shift” swing, adapted from a dense, physics-based (and frequently derided) instruction book called “The Golfing Machine.” |
| [Jim Herman, once staked by Donald Trump, earns spot in Masters] | [Jim Herman, once staked by Donald Trump, earns spot in Masters] |
| “He comes from the game from such a different point of view, and he has such well-thought-out opinions as to how it should be played — the way he plays it,” said three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who played a practice round with DeChambeau on Tuesday. | “He comes from the game from such a different point of view, and he has such well-thought-out opinions as to how it should be played — the way he plays it,” said three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who played a practice round with DeChambeau on Tuesday. |
| But above all, what has Mickelson and some of the other best golfers in the world flocking to DeChambeau’s golf bag this week is the fact all his irons are the same length and weight, roughly that of a 7-iron – a fact that has sparked so much curiosity, you would think they were forged from 24-karat gold. | But above all, what has Mickelson and some of the other best golfers in the world flocking to DeChambeau’s golf bag this week is the fact all his irons are the same length and weight, roughly that of a 7-iron – a fact that has sparked so much curiosity, you would think they were forged from 24-karat gold. |
| “I go into his bag all the time,” defending Masters champion Jordan Spieth said recently. | “I go into his bag all the time,” defending Masters champion Jordan Spieth said recently. |
| Though DeChambeau, a 22-year-old from Clovis, Calif., is outwardly humble, and demonstrates a first-timer’s appropriate level of reverence for Augusta National, he also oozes with a confidence that borders on hubris — as when he casually mentions he might “do something special” this week, or when he punctuates the origin story of his uniform-length irons by saying matter-of-factly: “This could possibly change the game.” | Though DeChambeau, a 22-year-old from Clovis, Calif., is outwardly humble, and demonstrates a first-timer’s appropriate level of reverence for Augusta National, he also oozes with a confidence that borders on hubris — as when he casually mentions he might “do something special” this week, or when he punctuates the origin story of his uniform-length irons by saying matter-of-factly: “This could possibly change the game.” |
| [Big three of Day, Spieth and McIlroy make it crowded at top] | [Big three of Day, Spieth and McIlroy make it crowded at top] |
| But changing the game can wait. The immediate goal for DeChambeau is to change the landscape atop the game. Already just the fifth golfer in history to win the NCAA championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year (joining Jack Nicklaus, Mickelson, Woods and Ryan Moore) he has the talent to become golf’s Next Big Thing — except the game isn’t exactly crying out for such a creature. There simply isn’t room. | But changing the game can wait. The immediate goal for DeChambeau is to change the landscape atop the game. Already just the fifth golfer in history to win the NCAA championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year (joining Jack Nicklaus, Mickelson, Woods and Ryan Moore) he has the talent to become golf’s Next Big Thing — except the game isn’t exactly crying out for such a creature. There simply isn’t room. |
| Spieth, also 22, is older than DeChambeau by just six weeks and already owns two major championships, as well as the No. 2 ranking in the world. Rory McIlroy, 26, had already won a U.S. Open by the time he was DeChambeau’s age, and is now a Masters title away from completing the career grand slam. Even Jason Day, the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer and winner of August’s PGA Championship, is just 28. | Spieth, also 22, is older than DeChambeau by just six weeks and already owns two major championships, as well as the No. 2 ranking in the world. Rory McIlroy, 26, had already won a U.S. Open by the time he was DeChambeau’s age, and is now a Masters title away from completing the career grand slam. Even Jason Day, the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer and winner of August’s PGA Championship, is just 28. |
| Still, when DeChambeau was paired with McIlroy in the Arnold Palmer Invitational three weeks ago — with the latter firing a 65 and the former nearly matching him with a 66 — McIlroy came away gushing, telling DeChambeau, “If you keep playing like this, I’ll be seeing a lot more of you.” | Still, when DeChambeau was paired with McIlroy in the Arnold Palmer Invitational three weeks ago — with the latter firing a 65 and the former nearly matching him with a 66 — McIlroy came away gushing, telling DeChambeau, “If you keep playing like this, I’ll be seeing a lot more of you.” |
| DeChambeau bristles at the suggestion he is some sort of mad scientist — “More of a good experimenter,” he says — and insists he is equal parts science and artistry. But it was the scientific half that produced his breakthrough. | DeChambeau bristles at the suggestion he is some sort of mad scientist — “More of a good experimenter,” he says — and insists he is equal parts science and artistry. But it was the scientific half that produced his breakthrough. |
| At age 15, DeChambeau was handed a copy of “The Golfing Machine” by his coach, Mike Schy, who felt the book’s complexity — with its swing theory broken down into 24 components with a total of 144 variations — would resonate with DeChambeau’s natural curiosity and analytical bent. Poring through the book, DeChambeau eventually honed in on a “one-plane” swing designed for chipping — Component 7, Variation A — and thought he could adapt it for a full swing. | |
| But to streamline the swing, he thought it would help to have all his irons be the same length and weight. That way his posture would remain consistent, rather than contracting or lengthening depending on the club, and thus keep him in the correct plane. The first set of irons he modified were “mangled” and “ugly-looking,” he said, with strips of lead tape applied to get the weights exact. | But to streamline the swing, he thought it would help to have all his irons be the same length and weight. That way his posture would remain consistent, rather than contracting or lengthening depending on the club, and thus keep him in the correct plane. The first set of irons he modified were “mangled” and “ugly-looking,” he said, with strips of lead tape applied to get the weights exact. |
| “I knew that F equals MA,” he said, referring to force, mass and acceleration. “Those [last] two can be exchanged in relatively equal terms when swung at a relatively low velocity. . . . I understood that if I was to swing [with a shaft] one inch shorter, that the head weight would need to be probably about 10 to 11 grams heavier [in order] to equal about the same force.” | “I knew that F equals MA,” he said, referring to force, mass and acceleration. “Those [last] two can be exchanged in relatively equal terms when swung at a relatively low velocity. . . . I understood that if I was to swing [with a shaft] one inch shorter, that the head weight would need to be probably about 10 to 11 grams heavier [in order] to equal about the same force.” |
| The first time he used the clubs in competition, in 2011, the reaction from fellow competitors, according to DeChambeau, was: “This dude is crazy. He’s a nut job.” | The first time he used the clubs in competition, in 2011, the reaction from fellow competitors, according to DeChambeau, was: “This dude is crazy. He’s a nut job.” |
| “That,” he said, “has obvious changed over the years.” | “That,” he said, “has obvious changed over the years.” |
| After winning the NCAA championship and U.S. Amateur in 2015 as a college junior, DeChambeau was set to play his senior year for SMU and turn pro this summer, but when SMU’s program was placed on NCAA probation, he took the opportunity to leave school and shift his timetable. | |
| The Masters will be his final event as an amateur; he will turn pro immediately afterward and already has lined up the maximum eight sponsor’s exemptions into PGA Tour events this year — including the Quicken Loans National in June at Congressional Country Club — in hopes of winning enough money to secure his tour card for 2017. In the process, he thinks he can revolutionize the game. | The Masters will be his final event as an amateur; he will turn pro immediately afterward and already has lined up the maximum eight sponsor’s exemptions into PGA Tour events this year — including the Quicken Loans National in June at Congressional Country Club — in hopes of winning enough money to secure his tour card for 2017. In the process, he thinks he can revolutionize the game. |
| “If I play well next year,” he said, “I guarantee you a lot of people would want to try it.” | “If I play well next year,” he said, “I guarantee you a lot of people would want to try it.” |
| He has approached his first Masters with the same mix of curiosity and analysis that informed his swing and his irons, playing extra practice rounds to learn the course and spending hours picking the brains of former champions such as Ben Crenshaw, as well as longtime CBS announcer Jim Nantz, about its intricacies. | He has approached his first Masters with the same mix of curiosity and analysis that informed his swing and his irons, playing extra practice rounds to learn the course and spending hours picking the brains of former champions such as Ben Crenshaw, as well as longtime CBS announcer Jim Nantz, about its intricacies. |
| [2016 Masters tee times and groupings] | |
| During his practice round with Mickelson and Dustin Johnson on Tuesday, DeChambeau and Mickelson spent so much time discussing the science behind DeChambeau’s swing that the laconic Johnson finally shook his head and said, “If I hang around much longer, I’ll never break 100.” | During his practice round with Mickelson and Dustin Johnson on Tuesday, DeChambeau and Mickelson spent so much time discussing the science behind DeChambeau’s swing that the laconic Johnson finally shook his head and said, “If I hang around much longer, I’ll never break 100.” |
| This week, he has already spent some time in Augusta National’s Trophy Room, gazing at a glass-encased set of irons belonging to one of the few top golfers in history known to have attempted playing with a set of irons all the same length: Bobby Jones, the revered co-founder of the Masters. | This week, he has already spent some time in Augusta National’s Trophy Room, gazing at a glass-encased set of irons belonging to one of the few top golfers in history known to have attempted playing with a set of irons all the same length: Bobby Jones, the revered co-founder of the Masters. |
| “His spirit is still here,” DeChambeau said of Jones, momentarily losing himself in the romance and mysticism of Augusta National, the scientist in him more than happy to step aside. | “His spirit is still here,” DeChambeau said of Jones, momentarily losing himself in the romance and mysticism of Augusta National, the scientist in him more than happy to step aside. |