While this year’s Rocket Classic is not exactly a highlight on the PGA Tour calendar for many fans, the tournament definitely did provide a significant moment in the career of Bryson DeChambeau.
The Rocket Classic has only been played on the PGA Tour since 2019, but has already seen the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Rickie Fowler and Tony Finau emerge victorious. Cam Davis goes into this week looking to win a third title at Detroit Golf Club.
DeChambeau’s win five years ago was particularly notable because it was the first time that he had won on the PGA Tour since making the decision to transform his body in late 2019.
Of course, DeChambeau had already gained a reputation for doing things a little differently. But it was interesting that he decided to change things up when he did given that he had still managed to win four times in 2018 alone.
How Kevin Kisner reacted to Bryson DeChambeau winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2020
DeChambeau shot a seven under par 65 in the final round to beat Matthew Wolff by three shots in Detroit. Kevin Kisner meanwhile, was two shots further back in third.
And Kisner produced an unsurprisingly brilliant reaction to DeChambeau’s performance on that final day.
“Well, obviously he understands what is the key to gaining the biggest advantage and that’s distance, and mega distance. Like I told Amanda, he just has too much time on his hands. He needs to start getting married and having kids and feel like the rest of us,” he said.
What Bryson DeChambeau said about his ’emotional’ win at Detroit Golf Club
It was clearly vindication for DeChambeau. He seemed to push himself in a way in which the game, at the elite level, has never really seen. Players such as Justin Thomas assumed DeChambeau’s fitness regime would not work out.
So perhaps it is not a shock that DeChambeau felt so strongly when he got across the line at the event then known as the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
“This is a little emotional for me because I did do something a little different, I changed my body, changed my mindset in the game and I was able to accomplish a win while playing a completely different style of golf. And it’s pretty amazing to see that and I hope it’s an inspiration to a lot of people that if they set their mind to it, you can accomplish it,” he said.
“It just takes a lot of hard work, a lot of figuring out things that you may not know and understand yet, but if you keep going down the line and you keep working on it, figuring stuff out, eventually you’ll get a little bit better each and every day and hopefully that leads to something great in the end.”
Obviously, a bigger prize was just around the corner. DeChambeau would become a major champion less than three months later as he won the US Open at Winged Foot in one of the most memorable displays the event has seen in quite some time.
That week seemed to have such a big impact on how the game is played now. And it may have been his victory several weeks earlier which gave DeChambeau just a little more belief that he was heading in the right direction.
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