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.
The 2020 US Open discussion Thread
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. 
Par4QC Donāt 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. Itās not just āaverage when hitting driverā. Bryson is hitting the ball plenty long, thereās 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 Iām 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 Tigerās 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 itās 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 heās giving up a little distance with his current ball flight, but heās 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
I donāt 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 thatās 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 isnāt focused on the sport. DJ could have been dominant, but Coke won. Koepka only seems to care about majors, most of the others just arenāt 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.
- Edited
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. 
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.
JMO...but I don't think either Rory, DustinJ, Champ or Wolff would want to go up against Bryson
in a pure LDA contest (for various reasons). And if he is successful with the 48" weapon, well...
I think he'd get his ass whupped.
