Tiger Woods completely changed the game of golf in the late 1990s and it could be argued that Bryson DeChambeau actually had a similar effect 20 years later.
Over the last two years, DeChambeau’s approach to major championships has definitely changed – he has admitted as much himself.
However, something he said five years ago rings really true in the current era of power hitting in professional golf.
DeChambeau came out on the PGA Tour in 2016, after a stellar amateur career that included his win at the US Amateur Championship in 2015.
He went on to win nine times on the PGA Tour, but it was back in 2020 when he became a real pioneer for what the future of golf would look like.
The 31-year-old bulked up in the gym and began reaching ball speeds of around 200 mph. He actually pushed those speeds even higher when competing in long drive competitions.
DeChambeau won the US Open at Winged Foot in 2020 by overpowering the golf course – a tactic never before used to any great effect at America’s national championship.
He has since reined that power in, but he is still capable of carrying the ball 340 yards through the air on demand, and he went on to win another US Open title four years after his first.
DeChambeau has completely changed his persona over the past 12 months or so. He is much more friendly and easy going now, and his answers in press conferences are way more measured than they used to be.
The ‘scary’ day Bryson DeChambeau predicted was coming in golf
Back in the day he was fairly bullish when discussing his plans to take golf to another level never seen before.
And one prediction he made back in 2020 just after he won the US Open at Winged Foot certainly fit into that category. However, he has been proven to be absolutely spot on with what he said.
Five years ago, the LIV golfer explained how he envisioned a new era of golf approaching.
He said: “I think it will. I have looked at many scenarios. What scenario is there with this is not working? I am having a very difficult time finding that scenario, Chris is as well and I think I can speak on his behalf on that.
“There is only a few instances which may hinder it a bit, but no matter what hitting a seven iron 210 yards is pretty good no matter where you are! I think there are only a couple of cases that I have thought of that may hinder it, and I will not speak on that because I don’t want people to find it out.
“But as of right now I do believe that I hopefully inspire a generation which will come out here and think differently and bomb it.
“There is going to be a guy who is 6ft 7inches who goes out on Tour and is 270 pounds and can swing it and control the whole golf club, and it’s 48 inches and the technology is good enough where the shaft is stable enough and hit if off the toe and heel and they are just as accurate as someone hitting it 280. That is going to be a scary day where the golf world changes forever. I don’t know if I have done it, but I have hit a mark where people are thinking it’s possible, let’s go.“
Bryson DeChambeau proven right by Aldrich Potgieter’s success
Aldrich Potgieter has taken the PGA Tour by storm this season with his immense power off the tee rendering some golf courses as defenceless.
The 20-year-old South African is a different breed when it comes to long hitting off the tee.
He is first in the driving distance rankings on the PGA Tour with an average of just over 327 yards, with a seven-yard gap down to second on the list!
Potgieter’s average ball speed is 190mph this season, something that was unheard of before DeChambeau’s transcending impact on professional golf in 2020.
The South African’s unrivalled power culminated in him becoming only the fifth player from outside of the United States in PGA Tour history to win before his 21st birthday.
DeChambeau predicted five years ago that we would see a new era in golf whereby powerful physical specimens begin to dominate the sport.
And as things stand, it’s looking like the man from Dallas, Texas, was bang on the money.
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