Bryson DeChambeau will need his A-game to see off Rory McIlroy at The Masters today and even he’s admitted some of his play in round three left him a bit baffled.
DeChambeau looked to be adrift of McIlroy as the Northern Irishman made eagle on 15 but a flurry of birdies – three in the last four holes – saw the American close the gap to just two shots.
With the duo set to go out as the final pair, golf fans are expecting serious fireworks.
However, while there’ll be some great golf on display, there’s also the chance for errors and after hitting a couple of wayward shots in round three, DeChambeau needs to make sure he keeps them to a minimum.
Indeed, pressed on self-inflicted errors by the media, DeChambeau admitted that he even confused himself with one shot.
Bryson DeChambeau names the shot that left him baffled in round three of The Masters
“My irons? What’s funny is on 14, I hit a great pitching wedge from like 169 yards. And I have no idea why it ended up 20 yards short of where my landing spot was. I think it was just a little bit of the mowing into the grain, it may have been sitting down a little bit and came out spinny, and there you go,” DeChambeau conceded.
“That’s part of what happens out here. It’s going to be fun over the course of my career to figure more of that stuff out. Because it certainly doesn’t happen very often elsewhere, but it does happen a lot here. It will be a fun thing to figure out over the course of time.
“As for how I’m hitting it, just not lining up the face as consistently as I would like at impact. Got to go work on the basics and get back to it, and I’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Going into more detail on his plans for the final round and the night before, DeChambeau admitted he’d be spending some more time practicing before going to bed late.
“Yeah. I mean, for me, it’s going to be practicing a little bit before it gets dark. Eating. Looking at my phone. I don’t have a problem with that. And just getting treatment on my body. Relaxing as much as possible. Watching a movie, probably, tonight. A fun movie. I don’t know, what’s tonight — oh, it will probably be a James Bond movie or something like that. That will be fun. I love James Bond movies,” DeChambeau admitted.
“Tomorrow morning, I’ll probably go to bed late and get up around 10:00, 10:30 and see how the course is playing and go from there.”
Those plans were in contrast to McIlroy’s plans to be as calm as possible ahead of what should be a famously good final round.
Bryson DeChambeau’s practice sessions becoming the stuff of legend at The Masters
Everyone who follows golf knows that Bryson DeChambeau is a bit of an animal when it comes to his practice and getting the most from himself.
However, even by his own standards, he’s been practicing so much at Augusta National that you have to take your hat off.
| Bryson DeChambeau’s finishes at the Masters | |
| 2016 | T21 |
| 2017 | N/A |
| 2018 | T38 |
| 2019 | T29 |
| 2020 | T34 |
| 2021 | T46 |
| 2022 | CUT |
| 2023 | CUT |
| 2024 | T6 |
Just like the US Open in 2024, we are going to see a McIlroy and DeChambeau head to head and for the golfing fans, it’s the ideal scenario.
DeChambeau was also spotted as the last man out on 16 before the tournament began, hitting shot after shot across the water.
If he does go on and win it, then nobody can say it’s down to luck. It will be pure hard work and fully deserved for DeChambeau.
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