Rickochet It's amazing how that's become a secondary thing. I watched quite a bit of the coverage and I only heard them mention the single length irons once and that was today and it was about him seeing Bobby Jones clubs and they were single length. It's all about the power now, the bulk, the protein shakes,etc. If you just started watching golf you wouldn't likely even know he's playing SL.
The 2020 US Open discussion Thread
Par4QC Yea, Wolf outdrove him a few times as did Rory. As will DJ. But it's more the way he looks and goes at it. It's all about sheer force with him, or seems as if it is. I wonder if he couldn't hit it farther by bringing his launch down some and getting more run out. But I'm sure he's looked into that.
garyt1957 I wonder if he couldn't hit it farther by bringing his launch down some and getting more run out. But I'm sure he's looked into that.
It will be interesting when he tries the 48" driver to check his specs. He's launching a 5.5* high & medium now.
And, I'm not sure he wants a lot of run out - more control at higher launch.
shokosugi Yes! He won by 6 strokes over the field. He kicked ass and there’s nothing you can take away from it. He played well all 4 rounds, he was unrelenting and if anybody wants to argue he doesn’t have the mental game, his short game isn’t good enough, he isn’t long enough (wait he solved that), his putting isn’t enough, blah blah blah, just get over your hate. He has proven he can and Will win in big events. I said over a year ago his resume was already better than Bubba Watson’s career, well now he has the major to back it, 10 years earlier than Watson, he’s on his way to being one of the best we have ever seen. Like him or not, he’s here and this tour, as if this moment, is his. He’s the class of the field, you want to deny it? Show me who has done more At this point in their career and still is remotely competitive. He’s a young gun, but the old guard say they learn from him, he might be different, but so was Jack, Tiger, etc. Koepka is the only one who can honestly say he’s not scared, can’t wait to see some battles between them in the future.
garyt1957 It's amazing how that's become a secondary thing. I watched quite a bit of the coverage and I only heard them mention the single length irons once and that was today and it was about him seeing Bobby Jones clubs and they were single length. It's all about the power now, the bulk, the protein shakes,etc. If you just started watching golf you wouldn't likely even know he's playing SL.
That was my weak attempt at humor.
DC300 He’s the class of the field, you want to deny it? Show me who has done more At this point in their career and still is remotely competitive.
Please, he is 27 and has only won what, 6-7 tournaments. Never ranked #1, and this is his 1st Major. No FedEx championships, not much, really, on the resume when compared to others his age. You compare him to Watson, a has been, who is 41 yrs. old and has only won 14 Pro tournaments(some as a team). Bad choice for a comparison. And Bubba is still ahead of him in wins. May well be forever. Try a comparison within his age group, say Justin Thomas.
Bryson is swinging some heavy lumber that will take the toll some day. I would never get so high on this guy. jmo These kids will not be around as the "journeymen" in later years. Hell, some won't make it to 30!
I give him a ton of credit for his conviction to doing things his way. Not sure how long his body will hold up with all that weight and stress on the joints. He's fun to watch now, tho.
I'll give Bryson his due. Not a fan but he did what he had to do.
BTW Bryson is using LDA type of driver swing and going to a longer playing length is in keeping with that theme and his tinkering. 5 deg. loft tees ball way up. I'd like to know his AofA and launch angle.
I don't know why everyone is so focused on Bryson's length, his ability to make putts....and Wolff's inability
to make anything (except for the eagle on 9 which was a moot point) is what won DeChambeau
the hardware. IMO
There's always plenty of room for perspective, for sure. It's easy to jump on bandwagons, and it's just as easy to write players off after they've been out of the limelight for a few years. We forget that as dominant as Tiger was during an 11 year stretch, someone other than him won 78% of the time he was competing. Longevity was always going to be a concern with him, as he entered the tour back in '96 or '97 as this freak of nature, this skinny kid who was blasting it 20-30 yards beyond even the longer hitters back at that time. Butch Harmon did everything he knew to do to try to get Tiger to throttle back, but Tiger wasn't interested in softening his swing aggression. And who could blame him? His length certainly gave him a huge advantage. But it did come at a price long-term.
The same can be said of other players. Jason Day is one of the more recent players that come to mind.
But who could possibly blame Bryson for adapting to the bomb-and-gouge era? Obviously the longer hitters have a huge advantage today. That doesn't automatically move them to the top of the favored-to-win list, but with non-US Open type setups where there is little risk and huge reward? It is what it is. And it's been this way for a fairly long while now, its not like this distance obsession is a new fad. Tiger changed the game when he burst onto the scene, and the Tour recognizes the value of their players entertaining the fans. After all - sports are essentially an extension of the entertainment industry! If we didn't find what they do impressively entertaining, we'd have little to talk about!
All that said, Bryson would do well to capitalize on his physical ability while he can, if he plans on staying the course with his "all or nothing" approach, that is. Once the injuries start occurring, that window of opportunity starts to close rather quickly.
Then again, who cares more about longevity than winning now these days? These guys are backing armored trucks up to their garage and unloading millions. Who needs to dominate for a decade or longer when they can amass that kind of coin in half that time?
The purses today have compelled some of us to move the goal posts quite significantly regarding what we once considered the true definition of a "great" player. It used to be that we would consider the entirety of a career to come to that conclusion, not just a 3-4 year window of pocket-lining dominance.
PA-PLAYA The purses today have compelled some of us to move the goal posts quite significantly regarding what we once considered the true definition of a "great" player. It used to be that we would consider the entirety of a career to come to that conclusion, not just a 3-4 year window of pocket-lining dominance.
Like an NFL running back. Signing bonus, maybe 6 years of pounding it hard at $millions/year, retire, go fishing!
scotts33 I'll give Bryson his due. Not a fan but he did what he had to do.
Same here. Not a fan. Bryson was the best player in the field this week and showed great touch and intelligent play all the way through. I had doubts about his mental strength and he proved me wrong for doubting. As seems to happen very often for the U.S. Open winner in a given year his ability to make the 4 - 10 ft. putts consistently was great throughout the week. Whether he had an exceptional week in that dept. or if it is something he'll be able to repeat over the years remains to be seen. Hail to the U.S. Open champion of 2020.
darpar I don't know why everyone is so focused on Bryson's length, his ability to make putts....and Wolff's inability
to make anything (except for the eagle on 9 which was a moot point) is what won DeChambeau
the hardware. IMO
You're exactly right.
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.
Man, I have two sets of SL irons I have to get built and onto eBay. right now.
! On the tour for 4 years, has 8 professional wins, 1 Major, finished 3rd in the Fed Ex, and he’s just a journeyman. My goodness, if only everyone could be a journeyman. He’s already done more in 4 years than 98% of professionals will do their entire career.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.
scotts33
Good point Scott (building on Don's comment).
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).
Playing armchair scientist (dubious I know), perhaps the combination of his high swingspeed and the potential for less overall clubface interaction with the rough due to the upright lies makes him less prone to getting the clubface shut down.