Players Championship: Bryson DeChambeau has tilted the golf world on its axis

Bryson DeChambeau of the United States plays a shot from near the 12th hole back to the 14th as fans look on during the second round of The Players Championship. Picture: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

There’s been a running dialogue for more than a decade about who would move the needle in golf when Tiger Woods was no longer its North Star. Just a few weeks since Woods’ car accident and injuries that jeopardize his competitive future, we may already know the answer.

Bryson DeChambeau.

In consecutive weeks in Florida with a representative sample of spectators back at PGA Tour events, the galleries have lost all sense of social distancing when it comes to DeChambeau. The golf world has tilted on its axis and gravitates towards him. He is must-see entertainment.

That was evident a week ago at Bay Hill when the vast majority of the 5,000 or so fans allowed into the Arnold Palmer Invitational crowded behind the par-5 sixth tee to watch DeChambeau muscle his driver 370-plus yards over a lake suitable for housing a marina. DeChambeau didn’t disappoint and went on to win the tournament to boot.

This week at the Players Championship – where 20% of normal fan capacity has raised legitimate questions about just how big normal fan capacity is in the minds of the PGA Tour – he is appointment viewing. People packed around each tee make plain their sentiments every time he reaches into his golf bag to pull a club.

“It’s always like, ‘Aww’ with an iron,” he said. “Driver’s like, ‘Yeah!’”.

Lee Westwood felt the full brunt of Bryson-mania on that sixth tee in the final round last week.

“There’s the anticipation there, people want him to go for it,” he said. “And there will come a time when he aims further left … maybe in a practice round next year or the pro-am he’ll go straight at the green, not chicken out and go right of that trap.”

DeChambeau is all about pushing boundaries that he believes are limitless. More swing speed. More yardage. More strength. More angles. When he talked about playing the 18th hole at Sawgrass by carrying it 300-plus yards to the opposite side of the lake because the designed shape of the hole takes driver out of his hands, the PGA Tour reacted by creating an internal out of bounds to prevent him from trying it.

“I probably shouldn’t have said anything,” DeChambeau said. “Knowing that now, I won’t ever say any lines that I’m taking anymore.”

While he is quirky and a little weird with his science jargon and sponsor references, he connects with his growing legion of fans. There is a constant chatter outside the ropes around DeChambeau, and he hears it all.

“They always ask how many protein shakes I’ve had, which is funny, and I always reply back with however many I’ve had that day for the most part,” he said, the answer Friday being four.

DeChambeau has the makings of being much more than a sideshow attraction – one with the legs to command attention for both the way he plays and the way he wins.

Great to watch

Westwood got a close-up look at it last week in their head-to-head Sunday duel at Bay Hill, and he was impressed by what he sees from the player 20 years his junior.

“I mean it’s great to watch. I like it,” Westwood said. “I think it’s nice that Bryson does what he does and that he’s unique to doing that. I think if everybody did it then I think it would kind of get out of control.”

He’s a hard man to imitate. Guys might be able to hit it long, but hitting it in play and pairing it with short-game and putting skill good enough to dominate a field at a U.S. Open or handle a target golf course like Sawgrass is not something just any old bomber can do.

DeChambeau has a pair of 69s so far at the Players and when he finished Friday he was sitting tied second just a shot behind first-round leader Sergio Garcia.

“I’m happy with the fact that I’ve still been able to keep myself in it and score well,” he said after overcoming a double-bogey start with a clean sheet including five birdies the remaining 17 holes. “I’ve been pretty lucky, for the most part. I don’t think that’ll happen this weekend.

I’ve got to make sure that my game is good off the tee, so I don’t have those issues occurring and I don’t have to rely on luck for the most part. I have to get it in the fairway.

In a crowded leaderboard at Sawgrass, he’ll continue to be the needle this weekend and for many weekends to come.

Westwood, for one, believes that golf will be fine moving forward with or without Woods, and DeChambeau is just one piece of that puzzle that he insists is not going to break the game with his length.

“I think golf’s in a good place, I don’t know where everybody is panicking about it,” he said. “I think it’s exciting to watch right now, there’s a lot of different combinations. You’ve got Bryson, obviously and then I suppose myself who is nearly 48 can still contend.

"With people like Dustin Johnson and Colin Morikawa winning (WGC), young lad, he hits it a long way but you wouldn’t say he hits it miles. Then you got Rory and people like that. Rory’s game’s great to watch.

“So golf’s in a healthy place, if you ask me.”