HybridWood How many times did we see the rest of the field try and gouge one from the rough onto the green only to have the ball go way left of target and the announcers say "Well, the rough grabbed the clubface and shut it down, so it went left." I can't recall when DeChambeau had that problem on the weekend (didn't watch Thursday or Friday).

Actually something was said on Golf Channel about Bryson practicing keeping the face open on his wedges. I believe his face control is very good better than most. His vast improvement on wedge play and putting is huge from a year to two years ago.

    In addition to the ability to come out of the rough is that he hits it higher and the descent angle allowed for.him to stop it easier vs. use of spin to stop it. Easier to do on those firm greens, and especially so coming out of that rough.....also witnessed him run quite a few up, which takes a whole other skill set to do.

    HybridWood
    The other thing is that his grips are the size of the handle of a baseball bat. That might help a lot in keeping the face from shutting down.

      garyt1957 "McIlroy actually outdrove DeChambeau this week, averaging 328.1 yards against DeChambeau's total of 325.6. They ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, in the field for the week."

      He didn't win this tourney from the tee. He won it with all the other clubs in his bag.

          Par4QC
          Yes, he could very well become the next Martin Kaymer. In 2015 I thought Speith was the new Tiger.

          At the beginning, I said that he with his accuracy he could become this generation's Jim Furyk if he wanted to be. Making a ton of cuts, winning once in a while, banking millions. Now he's left that in the dust to become a big hitter. Probably a good move but time will tell.

              Par4QC

              It looked like there were times that BDC dialed it back on his drives- the ones where his ball speed was only in the 170s vs up in the 190s which he did on occasion

                  It will be fascinating to see how the USGA sets up the course next year. I think they will realize that they kind of handed this one to Bryson with their setup. Not that he didn't play outstanding golf. But they took most of the field right out of the picture.

                  shokosugi
                  Yeah I saw that too. It was very obviously intentional, not a mis hit. For one thing he didn't stand behind the ball taking the super fast practice swings.

                    Seems to me that he could be the pinnacle of the Moe Norman approach. Can you imagine, with his
                    length, if he had close to the accuracy of Moe ? Holy ______________. !! JMO

                    DonM Players all have their 'spurts'. Some players, not many though. They may pick up quite a few wins during those spurts, but usually, they go back to 'just being a Pro golfer'. I don't think a lot of these young guys can do that; go back to being 'just a Pro golfer', like Cink and others. They all had shit tons of $$ before they ever set foot on the 1st Pro tee. It's, $$, not why they play. For the most out there, it is($$) the only reason they play; they know they will never win but are good enough to make millions for years. Great job to have, if you are good enough to stay employed.

                    There will never be other Tigers, Jacks, or Arnies. That history is written and sealed. And if it's not, I won't be around to witness it. Even if I live to be 100. šŸ˜ƒ

                        Par4QC Donā€™t forget the average is for all tees minus the Par 3, so when a guy is leading the tournament and goes to driving iron or 3 wood to play safe vs having to chase and risking driver, those average can be very deceiving. Itā€™s not just ā€œaverage when hitting driverā€. Bryson is hitting the ball plenty long, thereā€™s no argument there and Rory is also a beast off the tee, no argument there either. Tee average is not really a fair statistic to judge ones length as strategy can very much dictate that.

                        Example, I play a course where I hit driver at most 4 times per 9, also hit a 23* hybrid, a 6 or 7 iron twice, and depending on tee placement 2 of those drivers may get cut to a 3 wood or 18* hybrid. So my average for the day may be around 225 yards and by that number it may appear Iā€™m not longer off the tee than 95% of golfers. Yet I would assume there are very few on this forum that would be willing to risk their wallet in a long drive contest against me. Same thing applies to the guys on tour, most can bomb it, many will play to spots, rather than take risks.

                        Bryson also hits the ball extremely high and gets less roll, a huge advantage in most conditions as carry is really king in terms of predictable outcomes. Hence Tigerā€™s long time obsession with carry, with little roll out.

                        One question is, does Bryson have the low flighted shot in the bag? I believe he does, but itā€™s a lot more risk to run the ball into trouble than to fly the ball to a spot and know where it will be. I believe heā€™s giving up a little distance with his current ball flight, but heā€™s getting max distance for predictable results.

                            Here is your Bryson club info:

                            Bryson's winning WITB:

                            Driver: Cobra King SpeedZone (7.5 degrees @5.5)
                            Shaft: LA Golf BAD Prototype 60 TX

                            3-wood: Cobra King SZ Tour (14.5 @11.5 degrees)
                            Shaft: LA Golf BAD Prototype 70 TX

                            3-wood: Cobra King SZ Tour (14.5 degrees @13.5)
                            Shaft: LA Golf BAD Prototype 80 TX

                            Irons: Cobra King SZ One Length (4, 5), Cobra King Forged Tour One Length (6-PW)
                            Shafts: LA Golf Rebar Proto

                            Wedges: Artisan Prototype (50 @47, 55 @52, 60 @58)
                            Shafts: LA Golf Rebar Proto shaft

                            Putter: SIK Prototype

                            Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X

                            Grips: Jumbo Max Tour

                            Par4QC

                            I donā€™t necessarily agree with you, I think Bryson is the one who could be that guy. His relentless pursuit of perfection will be enough to keep him trying to be the best and thatā€™s where most of the young guys are different. The difference between good and great is the mindset. He has it, not saying he will be that guy, but somebody will come along that will. Before Tiger there was never going to be another Jack, before Kobe, never another Jordan, before Lebron, never another Magic Johnson, they may not have quite equaled their idols because of increased competition, but those guys came with the killer instincts to reach greatness.

                            Your theory is spot on for most of the young guns. Spieth, never had the the true long game or even a good, short game, but had an incredible putting run. Rory, already proved his mind isnā€™t focused on the sport. DJ could have been dominant, but Coke won. Koepka only seems to care about majors, most of the others just arenā€™t good enough.

                                I don't know if Bryson will be the next Tiger or if anyone will, but he may achieve his own greatness. It may be more like Phil's success than Tiger's, but that's still impressive IMO. Bryson's got to have a huge work ethic. You can't be a mad scientist and try different things without putting in a LOT of time. I'm not a fan of the guy's personality, but I like that he's a truly unique player and isn't afraid of doing things differently.

                                  DC300 Look at it this way, Justin Thomas has 13 PGA wins in the last 5 yrs.. DJ has won 23 in 12 yrs.. Thomas is the same age as Bryson. Rory has 18 PGA wins in 13 yrs.. At age 25, Rahm has 5 wins in just 3.5 yrs. and 6 ET wins. These guys are the best of the best, at this point. Several of the wins from these guys came with Bryson in the field. He will never dominate this group of PGA golfers, may even be lucky to 'win his share'. Sorry to have to disagree with your thoughts of legend for him. šŸ˜€

                                      DC300 Donā€™t forget the average is for all tees

                                      Nope. As I stated, it is for 2 designated holes, going in opposite directions, each tournament.

                                        scotts33 DonM I'll add something else. With his 37.5" wedges, he can get a ton of speed on swings out of the rough. I bet that helped a lot. The rough didn't cause him much trouble.

                                        I think Don hit on something there with the longer SL wedges and short irons. It would take the majority a long time to adjust to this without his upright single plane swing.

                                        BTW as to telecast and announcers not talking much about Bryson's SL club use it's more appropriate IMO to talk about Bryson's unorthodox single plane swing with very upright lies.

                                        ....especially if COBRA isn't paying for any advertising. You don't want to piss off your traditional OEM sponsors.

                                            mikeintopeka ..especially if COBRA isn't paying for any advertising. You don't want to piss off your traditional OEM sponsors.

                                            I don't remember Cobra have any advertising spots on the US Open telecasts but as was pointed out announcers didn't talk much about SL. Maybe there were Cobra spots I don't watch the commercials. I still say what makes Bryson different and applicable to his ability to play great golf is his single plane swing first not equipment. Equipment fitted as it is for his swing is paramount and Cobra has shown that they will pay to develop equipment for Bryson.

                                              Par4QC Except this is Bryson 2.0 . It's almost like he's a new player and this is his first year. Let's see how he does from here. Like others have said, he's not unbelievably long. Wolff outdrove him on a few holes as did Rory. What he did better than both is putt his ball. That's what impressed me, clutch putting, something Rory knows nothing about.

                                                  KCee I don't know if Bryson will be the next Tiger or if anyone will,

                                                  No more Tigers, no more Jacks imo. Just a different time.