Bryson DeChambeau has finished top 10 in five of the last six majors, winning one: the 2024 U.S. Open.
But close only counts in horseshoes—and after a T2 finish at the PGA Championship, finishing five strokes back of Scottie Scheffler, DeChambeau was thinking about the shots that got away at Quail Hollow Golf Club.
“I’m baffled right now,” DeChambeau, who finished at 6 under, said after a final-round 70. “Just felt like things just didn’t go my way this week. Drove it really well. I drove it as good as I can, as of right now, I gave myself a good chance. I just felt like a couple breaks went a different way. There were times where I feel like I pressed.”
If DeChambeau is looking to pinpoint where it went wrong, he can focus his attention on the Green Mile—Quail’s diabolical three-hole finishing stretch. He played those holes 1 over on Sunday, but was 3 over in Round 3.
“Green Mile did it to me yesterday and kind of did it to me again today,” the two-time U.S. Open champion said, “and that’s golf, man. I’ve got to be more precise and fix what I can fix to make myself more consistent and get up there, the likes what have Scottie is doing right now.”
DeChambeau drove the ball better than anyone at Quail—literally. He ranked first in the field in strokes-gained off the tee, gaining six shots. His approach play was the weakest part of his performance, ranking 47th in the field in strokes-gained approach.
One of the longest hitters in the game, DeChambeau’s clubhead speed presents a challenge when hitting wedges. However, he’s working on a potential remedy for that.
“What I really think needs to happen, being pretty transparent here, is just get a golf ball that flies a little straighter,” the 31-year-old said. “Everybody talks about how straight the golf ball flies. Well, upwards of 190 [mph] like Rory [McIlroy] and myself, it’s actually quite difficult to control the golf ball.
“The ball sidespins quite a bit and it gets hit by the wind quite a bit because our golf balls are just longer in the air. So I’m looking at ways of how to rectify that so that my wedges can be even tighter so it can fly straighter. I feel like there are times where I hit wedges and it just overcurves, depending how high and how much time it is in the air and how much spin is on the ball.
“So I think that’s really what I’m going to be looking at now along with some equipment stuff to just make myself a little more precise the next time so we don’t have what happened this week happen.”
In one month, the LIV golfer will defend his U.S. Open title at Oakmont Country Club. And DeChambeau will continue to rectify the ailments of his game so he can win a third major, rather than posting another close finish.
“I’m going to work my butt to have make that happen,” he said. “It’s all up to manufacturing. We’ll see what happens, but I’m keen on finding something and I’m keen on improving. I’m excited for that.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bryson DeChambeau ‘Baffled’ After PGA Championship Runner-Up, Mulls Equipment Change.