Photo credit: Kohjiro Kinno/USGA
Editor’s note: Bryson DeChambeau is one of those polarizing players in professional golf. As some players who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, when they return to a major, fans can be less than respectful. Not for DeChambeau. If you watched the PGA a few weeks back, the fans at Valhalla welcomed his with raucous cheers, and when he made a run on Sunday, it sounded like the roof was coming off the place. He is always entertaining and certainly was Tuesday when he met with the media at Pinehurst.
THE MODERATOR: Please welcome to the interview area our 2020 champion Bryson DeChambeau. How does it feel to be back at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, this is my first U.S. Open at Pinehurst, and excited. I played here in 2013, 2012 with my college team, SMU, so Mr. Dedman was nice enough to get us out here, and we played and had a great time. Certainly wanted to play in the U.S. Open that year but didn’t qualify, and a decade later, here we are.
Question: Obviously a great week for you at PGA. State of your game, talk about it a little bit, and what are you seeing from the course?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: My game is in a pretty good spot. Didn’t play my absolute best last week, but I can tell you that I’m excited for the week and got some good mojo going forward.
Looking forward to a tough test of golf out here. Pinehurst is no joke. This is a ball striker’s paradise. You have to hit it in the middle of the greens. And this is a Boo Weekley quote, but the center of the green never moves, so I’ll try to focus on that this week.
Question: How do you prepare for these dome-like greens, and can you talk about how this course differs from Winged Foot?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, wow. Well, they’re completely different golf courses. I’d say that for the most part, you have to focus on your wedge game around the greens. You’re not going to hit every green. You’re putting and wedging has to be pristine in order to compete at this major championship and at this venue.
Winged Foot it was a little bit of a different strategy, so most people would say it’s probably not suited best for me, I would say. But I do think I’m a pretty solid chipper and putter around the greens.
If I get my irons in a place where I’m hitting it in the middle of the greens and just playing boring golf, that’s the goal for me this week is try to play as boring a golf as possible.
Question: I know the results at Valhalla at the end wasn’t what you wanted, but the way you played electrified the place. Can you speak to what that did to your confidence level as you come into this next major, and once you came down from the high that week?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, reality always sets in. I played spectacular that week. I scored impeccable. I didn’t strike it as particularly well as I would have liked to, but I got fortunate in certain situations, and I capitalized with my putting being a huge asset to me that week.
I’m just trying to get the Greenbrier feel that I had back when I shot 61-58 on the weekend, and I feel pretty close to that.
It’s given me a lot of confidence. Valhalla has definitely given me a lot of confidence. Now it’s just time to go execute this week and get some good breaks, hopefully. And if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.
But I’m looking forward to a great challenge this week, and it’s a lot of boring golf, I can tell you. It’s definitely different than Valhalla, but I’ll try to do my best to show the crowd some fun drives and some hopefully long-made putts.
Question: Following up on that, you know the line about learning more from failure than you do from success. What did you learn specifically from Valhalla that you can take forward into this week or the next few weeks?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, I learned the equipment that I have is good enough to win in major championships. I feel a lot more comfortable under the gun in major championships being able to get the job done, even though I didn’t.
I feel like I’m right there. It’s given me that confidence to say, Okay, next step is to complete the task.
Question: You mentioned “boring golf” a few times. That’s not really your nature as a person. Is that hard for you?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, yeah.
Question: Does it come with age maybe?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it stinks hitting a 6-iron off the tee compared to a driver, but sometimes you’ve got to do it and you’ve got to make the right decision for shooting the lowest score out here.
There’s numerous holes like 3, I’d love to go for that green every single day, and I may go for it. I don’t know, you never know with me. Certainly on the tee box if it’s downwind, I’ll give it a go probably. No. 3, just hit a 6-iron out there, or 7. Hitting an iron out there and playing some very strategic golf is certainly something you have to do on this golf course to compete and win.
Question: From a distance, what’s the biggest part of Scottie Scheffler’s game right now that’s making him so good?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I tried asking him that a couple days ago when we flew in here. I saw him, and I was like, Dude, you’re playing unbelievable. What are you doing, man?
He’s like, I’m just playing good golf, I don’t know. It’s one of those things.
But no, from my perspective, he’s got full control of his golf swing. He’s figured out a lot of his putting. He plays some incredibly strategic golf from what I can tell. He doesn’t go too crazy. He just hits the right shots at the right time.
He’s really in control of the environment, not only his environment but the conditions on the golf course. He knows what the golf ball is going to do. He knows how to react accordingly. When things go right, he’s able to right the ship pretty quickly. That’s just a recipe for success, and he’s been able to do it longer than anyone has for a long time.
Again, he is the gold standard right now, and we’re all looking up to him going, All right, how do we get to that level?
Question: Which clubs do you find yourself using most often around the greens and what are those factors that you’re weighing when you determine when to use which one?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It really depends on the lie that I have. So, if it’s into the grain or down grain, and then how much slope am I going up. I personally like hitting a 60 or 55 into the slope and bouncing it up and rolling it over the top of the hills. I’ve always been somewhat decent at that.
I struggle when I’m hitting an 8-iron or a 7-iron or something like that trying to bump-and-run it like that. I feel like the ball gets away from me and I don’t have enough spin to control the check and roll-out.
So, I focus on, one, if it’s such a bad lie, I’ve got to putt it, I’ve got to putt it. If not, if it’s a good lie, it’s a decent lie, I’ll hit a 60, and then if I need lower loft to bounce it into a pretty steep slope, I’ll go to 55. That’s the way I go about it and how I make those decisions to get it up on top of the bowl and hopefully close to the hole.
Question: Your comments about playing smart, does it negate some of your length advantage, or do you still feel like you have that, even if you are laying back off the tee?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, even if I’m laying back off the tee, I still feel like my irons are a tremendous advantage for the length and how far I hit them.
For example, my 8-iron is going like 205 right now, 7-iron is close to 220. Even if I do lay back and I’ve got a 200-yard shot and I’m still hitting an 8-iron in, it’s still 200 yards and you’ve still got to hit a good shot from 200 yards. Definitely it is nice getting up there being like, Okay, it’s just an 8-iron. So I still think it is a bit of an advantage for me.
Question: Could you talk about how you tailor your preparations for a unique challenge, the U.S. Open challenge, and how you do that fitting it into a set schedule that you obviously have on LIV?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Meaning from the time that we have to…
Question: Exactly. In terms of you can’t pick and choose a tournament that would give you some kind of preparation or whatever, so do you sort of backfill in terms of readying yourself for the kind of shots you’re going to face this week?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I think Houston was actually a pretty solid test for us. The Bermuda fairways and greens are somewhat similar to this week, so there was definitely some thought put into that.
We make sure over there to try and set the schedule appropriate relative to the majors, as well. They’re very respectful of that, which I appreciate that again. It’s one of those things that even if it was bent grass last week, you’re still going to be focused on this week and how I’m going to hit those shots.
How I prepare for that is coming out here early and taking care of what the conditions are out here. Even though Houston was Bermuda last week, it’s not the same type and the greens are a little different.
Getting out here and getting a lot of practice in around the greens, on the greens, and making sure that my ball-striking is good is really what I’m focused on. And that’s the best way to prepare. There’s no better test than to actually practice on the golf course you’re practicing on for the tournament and whatnot.
This is a unique test. It’s not like most U.S. Opens. It’s definitely a different style of U.S. Open, which is really cool. I love that opportunity. I can’t wait to get started Thursday.
Question: Obviously your putter was a key club at Valhalla. Can you just talk about the evolution of your putting, and also, is your putter the oldest club in your bag right now?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, yeah, by a long shot. Putter is definitely the longest standing club in my bag.
The preparation, it’s funny, I didn’t putt very well at Augusta. I was pretty disappointed. I worked really hard and actually found something the week of Valhalla with my putting.
From there, I’ve just been smooth sailing, trying to retain that same feeling that I’ve had, not tinkering with it too much, and doing the same thing this week.
Last week I putted pretty decent, made a lot of good putts in some difficult conditions, and they were Bermuda greens. So it was good to see the grain and how it was affecting putts and whatnot, which will be somewhat of a similar situation out here.
It’s more of the same for me. I know it’s a really vanilla answer and you’re probably looking for more, but it’s more the same of what I’m doing. It’s a function of straight back, straight through, make sure the face angle is square to that target line for as long as possible, and just controlling my speed profile.
That’s really all I’m focused on to make sure I’m hitting the right distance putts. You see me working on that every day. Everybody sees it. So I’m probably one of the only people that uses a Foresight on the greens for practice. It really helps get my feel dialed in. More of the same for me.
Question: You mentioned the course is so unique for a U.S. Open test. How do you go about calculating your run-out numbers on a week like this?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s a great question, something that I’ve worked with G-Bo a lot on, talking to him about it this week.
Even just last week I was telling him a few times as it got hot in Houston and started running out we were just talking about run-out numbers, Okay, how much is this going to run out?
We track on practice days how far the golf ball is rolling. We’ll see on the Foresight how far it lands and then how far it actually goes. So we’ll take those two numbers and say that it’s a 33-yard run-out right now in these conditions, because if it’s downwind it can go to 45 yards. If it’s into the wind, it can go to five yards.
It’s a bit based on the conditions at hand and what slopes you land on and where it is in the fairways. You’ve got to just try to make sure you’re hitting it into the correct areas in spots with those types of conditions. That’s really what it is.
For example, the British Open is a great test of that. There are times where it can run out 100 yards in certain conditions. I like that style of golf. Certainly there are some bad breaks you can get, but you can also get really good breaks.
It’s just one of those things that you’ve just got to play with what the course provides you.
Question: The heat, maybe storyline this week, Friday will be close to 100. Obviously 8-iron going 205 can be a compression thing.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Probably going farther.
Question: Just talk about the impact it has on your game this week.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It definitely helps me swing faster. Heat helps me get a lot looser quicker, which is great. And then under the gun when my adrenaline goes, it can go really far. Spin rate actually drops. So when the grass gets dried out, I’ll have to be watching out for dried-out grass because that ball will go forever, especially I’ve got a Titleist Left Dash.
It’s not a spinny golf ball, and you need a lot of spin to control the golf ball around here. But it’s what I’m comfortable with. It’s what I like using for my irons. It’s what flight I need for wind.
If it gets hotter, it’s definitely going to provide a different challenge that we’ve all got to adapt to, and hopefully I can adapt better than others to give myself a good chance.
But it’s certainly going to make things play a lot firmer, faster, and the golf course is going to be a tough challenge.
Question: Can you talk about what you took out of Valhalla a month ago, and then can you talk about what parts of your game suit this golf course?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: So, what I took out of Valhalla was I would say personally the confidence that I can do it again. And my ultimate goal, after 20 more years hopefully of playing golf, God-willing, I’m hopefully going to complete that Career Grand Slam. That’s my ultimate goal for myself. Just trying to get that done at Valhalla for the second leg, and it didn’t happen.
Just knowing that I can get the job done, especially shooting 64 on Sunday, I gave it all I had. I let it all out there. I feel really confident with my game in under-pressure situations, which is great. That’s what I took out of Valhalla. That was a lot of fun.
Then also the fans were great. Love seeing and feeding off the fans. That was a lot of fun.
Question: You talked about your professional growth since that first U.S. Open win, but I’m wondering personally do you feel like you’ve grown in that time as a person?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, as a person? You’re talking about in the last how many years?
Question: Since the U.S. Open win.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, my life has changed dramatically. Still working on a house, so that’s fun. My brain just went completely sideways on that.
What I will say is I have changed, definitely, in different ways. I still feel like I’m that same kid that came out here right at the start, but I feel like as a person I’m just different to interact with.
Ever since I got the equipment change last year, my whole life dramatically changed. My dad passing gave me a great perspective on life. Just everything in general has changed.
They say every five years somebody’s life changes and it couldn’t be more true. I’m a completely different person than I was back at Winged Foot. There’re remnants. I’ve still got a lot of the same cells, but I’m definitely different in the brain for sure.