Bryson DeChambeau is likely to have mixed feelings following the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, with the LIV Golf star finishing tied for second for the second year running.
Virtually no player has been more impressive in the major championships since the start of the 2024 season than Bryson DeChambeau. The 31-year-old has finished in the top six at five of the last six majors, winning the US Open at Pinehurst.
DeChambeau has also had a brilliant chance of winning in each of his last five tournaments. He won at LIV Golf Korea, but failed to convert leads on the final day in Miami, at The Masters, and then in Mexico City.
And it seems that many feel there is one issue that DeChambeau must address if he is going to get across the line for a third time in the majors.
Bryson DeChambeau facing similar question to one Tiger Woods dealt with in 1997
Iron play cost DeChambeau at Augusta National. And it was a similar story at the PGA Championship, with the Crushers captain losing five shots to Scottie Scheffler with his approach play, according to the PGA Tour website.
Paul McGinley criticised DeChambeau for suggesting that he needs to change his golf ball, insisting that he needs to change his iron swing. McGinley felt that replicating his driver swing with his irons is not working, as his action is absolutely perfect for maximising his power with the longest club in the bag.
Interestingly, it seems that a similar observation was made of Tiger Woods around 28 years ago. Woods threw away the chance to win the Mastercard Colonial – the event now known as the Charles Schwab Challenge – after making two double bogeys in the final round.
Woods had won on his previous two starts before the event. And his playing partner on that Sunday at Colonial, David Ogrin noted the one issue he felt Woods had within his game.
“If there’s a potential weakness,” he said, in comments reported by Sports Illustrated, “it’s how do you finesse a 190-yard eight-iron? His club head is hitting the ball so hard that he’s going to find situations where it’s difficult to keep the ball in the ballpark. He’s a very quick learner and phenomenal around the greens, probably the best I’ve seen since Lee Trevino.”
How Tiger Woods changed his game after 1997 to confirm his spot as an all-time great
Woods was seen as a freak of nature with his power, with John Daly one of the only players who could rival him in that way.
At this stage in 1997, he had just won his first major title at The Masters. And of course, he blew the rest of the field away as he won by 12 at Augusta National.
He would win for a fourth time that year in July. But he would only win one event on the PGA Tour in 1998 as he broke down and rebuilt his swing alongside Butch Harmon.
1998 became the first year until 2003 when Woods would fail to win a single major. By that time, he had eight majors under his belt and had confirmed his place as one of the greatest of all-time.
It will be interesting to see if DeChambeau also decides to now make significant changes to his game, despite the success he has had in recent years.
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