Bryson's victory is sea change in golf history

[FakeClubPro]

I think Phil did it right. He made sure to do things to stay healthy. Look at Bernhard Langer - still winning and healthy. Phil probably would have won more if he had played more strategy golf but he always wanted to go for it.

Lots of golf fans like that about Phil. He sort of the somewhat smart ass guy where an impossible shot is needed and Phil say "here hold my beer."

I think these big guys may hurt themselves where someone more flexible like DJ or Wolff may stay healthy.

[freowho]

His driver needs to be part of this discussion in terms of changing the game. 7.5 degrees set to 5.5degrees.

 

From a Golf.com article:

Due to special inserts, DeChambeau’s shaft is 40-50 percent stiffer in the mid section than some competitive Tour-level shafts, according to Nolan, and it’s relatively soft in the tip section. It’s also very soft in the butt section, creating a “whip” effect, as Nolan says. The active tip section of the shaft allows DeChambeau to release the club head from his extremely inside-to-out driver path, while also minimizing unwanted droop at impact.

“It’s like a solid door shutting into the golf ball,” as Nolan describes it.

To prepare for DeChambeau’s speed increases down the road, LA Golf tested that same prototype shaft with professional long drivers to see how the shaft would hold up to speeds of 210mph+.

According to Nolan, the shaft held up to the high speeds, and it will continue to perform for DeChambeau as his speed increases.

“The harder he swings it, the straighter it will go,” says Nolan.

Conventional wisdom says that shouldn’t make sense, but DeChambeau isn’t conventional, and his driver shaft isn’t designed to be, either. The only change he’s made to his driver setup recently is he lightened up the head weight from 196 grams to 185 grams on his Cobra King SpeedZone 5.5-degree driver (yes, it’s only 5.5 degrees) for even more speed.

 

And a different Golf.com article:

During one of his regular Twitch streams, DeChambeau was asked if he’d ever use a 48-inch driver. Without hesitating, he confirmed it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility — he’s already tried out a driver with 4.8 degrees of loft — provided it didn’t come with a noticeable dip in “control.”

“I’d definitely use a 48-inch driver — if I could control it,” he said. “I’d generate so much more speed, but it’d need to be light enough, though. We’re definitely going to mess with that. Trust me, if the USGA allows me to go to 48 inches with the driver — and I hit it just as straight as my 45.5-inch driver — why not?”

[Ferguson]

I think it's great to see a guy who sets a goal, does the work and claims victory.

[tbowles411]

Agreed. I have ZERO problems with this. To me it was entertaining to see a guy hit Driver-9 iron into Par 5s. All week we listened to the talking heads say it would never work. Well it did, and he's doing all this to protect himself from injury by putting mass on his body to protect it.

[gvogel]

If Anchored putting is against the rules, the USGA/R&A really slipped up on allowing arm-anchored putting. My $.02.

[gvogel]

I hit it as far when I was 60 as i did when I was 25, because of the advent of 460CC drivers.

At 67, I've lost a good amount of distance. Big changes for me between 60 and 67.

[ChaosTheory]

Set aside the love/hate thing people have with Bryson in particular. Realize that he is only the first, with more to come. Probably many more, over 10 or 20 years. It won't be long until 330 yard carries are common.

[extrastiff]

Golf focused fitness may not be new, but it (or muscle/fat gain) leading to such quantifiable jumps in statistics that puts the person working out into the top of the ranks? Na that’s unique

and the jury is not out in my eyes, I play better with those grips. And they have multiple tour wins. And tiger does not use ultra skinny grips. So to each their own in my mind, go ahead and cast dispersions on a product based on anecdotal blah blah if you want.

bottom line is you are comparing one beast to a completely different beast. And that your comparisons mean absolutely nothing to the point, which is that whether you think his approach is good, bad, effective, a fake fairy tale, perfect.... it is “unique.” And not a completely bad idea, as he’s made plenty of money in his career of choice.

[kiwh]

As a kid I was drawn to golf by watching 1 person. Fred Couples. Sure he was known as “Boom Boom” for a minute. But the swing, smooth as silk. To this day, my only swing thought is just that, smooth.

I’ve never been a fan of long drive contests either.

He seems too mechanical.I can’t relate to it.

 

 

[bscinstnct]

 

The game has been around. The players come and go.

The equipment choices have always been very individual to the player. And many different combinations and variations have led to success.

My point was on BDs very poor proximity to the hole stats with his wedges. And I used Johnny Miller, a famously accurate iron player, to contrast and question if the fat grips, while helping with distance, may be a trade off for wedge accuracy.

 

Here is a piece on it, there’s a bunch of tech talk you might find interesting:

 

“Specifically, his proximity to hole: 124th on tour.If we go one step further, his approach proximity from 50 – 70 yards of 17’10” ranks him 152nd on tour, an abysmal ranking for one of the top players in the game.”

One-length wedges are holding Bryson DeChambeau back

Its great to be enthusiastic about BD. But let’s see if this success with his approach actually leads to any level approaching a “sea change”

 

 

[extrastiff]

tiger is also famously accurate. No skinny grips.

and again, none of this matters. If anything, you are affirming my point that he is unique by saying that someone this good should be better at wedges. Unique has no negative or positive connotation.

I am also not sure why you keep including Sea change in quotation marks. Do you not think we already noticed the mistake?

[bscinstnct]

 

Because winning the rocket mortgage when 70% of the top 10 is not there does not usher a “sea change” ; )

 

How long have you followed golf? We have seen this movie many times. Guy is going to be the next big thing! Has a burst of success, falls back into the shadows.

 

Can we at least see if he can win a couple of events and a major this year before we declare this “sea change”?

 

As far as the grips. It’s a question. That piece also provides background on why BDs wedge shafts May be hurting his proximity.

 

[Ferguson]

Often times I will get the seafood platter at the harbor. It's $ 12.95 on Thursdays.

I give the girl $ 15.00 and tell her to keep the sea change.

 

 

 

[bscinstnct]

Is her name Mary Ellen Moffat? ; )

[jonsnow]

 

Show me the way to go home

I'm tired and I wanna go to bed

I had a little drink about an hour ago

And it's gone right to my head...

[NevinW]

I know I will regret saying this, but golf was more interesting when long par 4s and real par 5s existed. Believe it or not, there was a time when real pros occasionally had to hit a fairway wood into a par 4 after a good drive. I don't think it is an accident how often the "pro golf is boring and I don't watch anymore on TV" threads show up on this site. Driver, sand wedge on every hole isn't that compelling.

[Soloman1]

Golf and society as a whole has lost finesse, style and panache.

It's all about manipulating you for a brand . . .

[Cpr3584]

Did not read this entire thread but just wanted to say I'm buying a 5 degree driver, drinking some protein shakes and hitting the gym. time to bro out!!!

for real tho I bet Bryson obliterates Augusta National in November, which could lead to the USGA finally rolling back the golf ball

[Darth Putter]

His 2020 form isn't even the best of his career.

2018 Northern Trust WIN

2018 Dell Technologies Championship WIN (both FedEX Cup Playoff events)

2018 BMW Championship T19th

2018 Tour Championship 19th

2018 Shriners Hospitals Open WIN

2019 Tournament of Champions 7th

2019 Hawaiian Open T10th

2019 Dubai Desert Classic WIN

 

[juliette91]

Thank you all for your posts and very entertaining discussion! My “sea change offput a number of you who demand better and longer in years results from BD. I think I may have been too quick to defend my position without really listening well (reminds me of someone..) so I’ll concede that may be more time is required.

i heard Kisner say BD should have some kids; he had too much time on his hands.

But others are more driven than Kisner and will follow BDs combinations of strength and speed training and some weight gain. I guarantee you that he is the talk of the Tour among the players with many of the same comments I bet that many of you posted. Yeah for sure if he throws his back out and is out of golf for a year my sea change Idea is vulnerable but he has shown that high skill level players following a regimen like his can d r a m a t I c a l l y gain ball speed. BD skillfully exploited the easiest way to get better, fast. Get faster

[Bigjim1022]

Every time I hear an announcer say “he’s in the bunker, he’s fine” I cringe a little. And sometimes they are better off in the bunker rather than the green side rough. That doesn’t make them hazards anymore.

[Bigjim1022]

I think from what I’ve read the majority of comments have been to take a wait and see approach. It’s simply too soon to say he’s a “sea change” for the game if golf. If he is we won’t know for what 10 years maybe? 15?

[extrastiff]

We get it, u can do funny things like quote sea change multiple times. My major confusion is why you keep using it when replying to me, when I’m not the one that said it, nor are we talking about that at all(or so I thought).

you avoid the point we were talking about

-Brysons setup is unique, regardless of if u like it or not

followed golf long enough to know you are not gonna show me a stat on a multiple tour winner gaining 20 mph ball speed in 6 months and topping the list

[jonsnow]

I liked this for use of "panache"...those with panache have no need of a brand.

[juliette91]

Just heard a replay of Jaime Diaz (Golf Channel commentator, 30 years experience covering golf, widely respected) describe to Gary___________(Golf Central host) why what BD is doing is an historical moment in golf. Fine minds think alike! If someone could post that link (I think it must have been a couple days ago, that interview?) I'd appreciate it. No idea why this typeface suddenly changed.

[bscinstnct]

 

I didn’t single you out. I used quotes around “sea change” throughout this thread to indicate the sarcasm I attach to using the term to what BD has actually accomplished.

 

I hope to remove the quotes and that he has a great run of wins, especially majors.

 

But, the hype is going to look silly if this time next year the only win he has is the Rocket Mortgage ; )

[Ghost of Snead]

Not sure why he would consider it a historical moment as he hasn't won a major or two with his bomb and gouge strategy. Koepka did the same thing 2017-19 and won 4 majors. Is he on a hot streak ? Sure ... is it historic ? Not in my opinion. If anything, what he's doing will reignite the bifurcation discussion.

[Ignatius Reilly]

A little further context on what he's accomplished (or not) so far.

He's almost the exact same age as Jordan Spieth. They're both 26 and will turn 27 in the next 3 months.

Spieth has 11 Tour wins, 2 Aus Opens, (and a Hero FWIW). Fedex Cup. Half a year at World #1. Won the Nelson, Vardon, Palmer and Nicklaus Trophies all at age 21.

Spieth hasn't won in almost 3 years, so he'd accomplished a lot more that BDC when he was only 23.

I'm glad he got a win, and his ideas are interesting - to say the last. But call me in a couple of years and we'll see about the "sea change" bit.

[cardoustie]

could we accept the kid is on a hot streak until he starts winning majors?

A few things come to mind re golf and pace (in the theme of the thread use Quint's voice from Jaws for these two following comments)

We have to kibosh arm lock putting

We need to stop the aligning the line nonsense on greens, it looks pathetic and is soooooo slow to mark and re-mark and mark again

 

 

[PowderedToastMan]

It’s no doubt too early to say Bryson is changing the game. If he keeps winning though with this strategy, he absolutely will. Even though it’s early, what he’s done is amazing. He went from being a celebrated amateur champion and top 10 professional golfer playing precision golf, to transforming his game to be the longest on tour, and is still one of the top 10 in the world. This change was all in a matter of months. It’s unprecedented.

If he wins a major or two this year, I believe the USGA is amending the anchoring rule to include the armlock. To me, that will happen before any rollback of the ball. Next should be the size of the driver head. I watched Bryson last Sunday heel a drive down the left side of the fairway 350 carry, 190 ballspeed. His strategy off the tee is massively taking advantage of the driver and somewhat taking advantage of the ball.

I love what he’s doing though. He implements multiple, massive changes into competition quicker and more completely than any golfer I’ve ever seen. You need not only tremendous talent to do that, but a crazy strong mind.