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.
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.
DC300 Not hater. Just seeing perspective. All of these young guys come out, win a couple and everyone jumps on their bandwagon as "the next". There is no "next". That, is history secured, by those that came before all of these wannabes. They will win, yes. They will make shit tons of cash, yes. They may have goofy swings, yes. And a lot of them will soon be gone. No journeyman blood in them. They either have to win, or they will quit. (Bryson will not quit, btw). But, if he was/is as good as everyone wants him to be, he would have 15 wins and be sitting at the top. He's not that good, week to week. He won the U.S. Open, a tourney that has been won by some you do not even remember the names of. Perspective.
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.
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.
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.
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. 
! On the tour for 4 years, has 8 professional wins, 1 Major, finished 3rd in the Fed Ex, and heās just a journeyman. My goodness, if only everyone could be a journeyman. Heās already done more in 4 years than 98% of professionals will do their entire career.
