Golf

Bryson Dechambeau finds Masters formula to fire a 67

US Open champion went round in the score which he once claimed was level par for him

Bryson DeChambeau watches his tee shot on the third hole during the second round of the Masters at Augusta National. Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times

Philip Reid's face
Philip Reid
Fri Apr 9 2021 - 22:07

What do you know? No quips any more about Bryson DeChambeau thinking Augusta National plays as a 67 for him, for the player known as The Scientist finally found the formula.

DeChambeau, the US Open champion, went into the second round under pressure to survive the cut. He had talked himself up, only for his actions to let his words down in an opening round 76 that was full of errors and misjudgments.

But DeChambeau walked the walk and talked the talk in the second round, including four birdies in the closing six holes for a second round 67 that lifted him to one-under-par 143. Instead of packing for a homebound journey, the world number five could refocus on a weekend challenge.

In typical fashion, DeChambeau stood out from the crowd in executing his final three shots: on the 18th, a wild drive went so far right that he was close to the 10th fairway from where he hit a wedge approach to eight feet and rolled in the birdie putt.

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“I think that making that putt on 18, making the putt on 17, those were huge momentum plays for me where I feel like I can go out tomorrow and shoot a good number a little earlier than the leaders and put myself in a great spot for Sunday,” said DeChambeau.

“I had a lot of great things happen to me. There was definitely a lot of lucky breaks I had. For the most part whenever somebody shoots a really, really low score, you’re going to have to have good breaks to go low, and sometimes golf is not friendly, and it can turn on you real quick.

“You may hit a great shot that’s just going right at the flag and the wind turns or something happens and albeit you hit a perfect shot for the conditions at hand, it just didn’t go next to the hole that time, and then there are times where you mis-hit a shot and it ends up right next to the hole. For example, 18 I mis-hit a shot way right and I had a clear shot to the green, hit it up there close. I think that’s why it’s so difficult is that it’s just variable. Golf is a variable game.”

Who could argue?