Bryson DeChambeau is in contention to win the PGA Championship with 18 holes to play at Quail Hollow.
The LIV Golf superstar shot an even-par 71 on Thursday, followed by a three-under 68 and two-under 69 in the next two rounds.
That puts him at six under for the tournament, five shots behind 54-hole leader Scottie Scheffler (-11).
DeChambeau is playing some great golf at the moment and would be even closer to Scheffler if he had not found the water on the 17th hole after being caught out by the wind.
Still, golf experts Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner have been critical of the 31-year-old for one aspect of his play at Quail Hollow.
Where Bryson DeChambeau is going wrong at the PGA Championship
DeChambeau’s driving this season, including at the PGA Championship, has been out of this world. His only issue has been his iron play.
It let him down especially in the final round at The Masters, and it’s been a problem again at the second major championship of the season.
“He was absolutely cooking in this third round, five under par as he stood on the tee on 16, he has just not been good enough with his irons,” Lavner explained.
“He is outside the top 50 in proximity to the hole, playing from positions on this golf course which nobody else is doing.
“I know he says he is working on it, and he was hoping to get a new set of irons in the bag this week, but it is just not sharp enough at this point to win a major championship because he is just not capitalising on some of his mammoth tee shots.”
Hoggard praised DeChambeau for his driving, while also pointing out that something is clearly not right for the US Open champion.
“It feels like a rinse and repeat of what happened at The Masters, where his driving was beyond impressive,” Hoggard shared. “When he is on, I would argue that we talk a lot about Rory being the best driver of the golf ball, and on a weekly basis that is certainly true, but when you look at what Bryson was able to do at The Masters, I think he probably drove the ball better just from a distance and accuracy perspective.
“I think that is certainly the case this week, it’s the poor iron play that is shocking to me. Those irons with a bulge face go back to last year’s Masters, when he was developing these, and there was going to be a new set, and he is still playing the same irons and waiting for irons to be developed.
“Clearly, there is something between whatever he is trying to do with his irons and what is actually happening. I think when you look at how analytical he is, it is almost shocking that he… I don’t want to say, ‘figure it out,’ because I don’t think we ever figure out the game of golf, but for someone who is such a scientist when it comes to this and doesn’t want variables, and wants every T crossed and I dotted, it seems like this he is just simply coming up short.”
The ‘odd’ comment Bryson DeChambeau makes in every press conference
It’s one thing to struggle with an area of your game, and another to seemingly not even recognise that it’s your biggest weakness.
Lavner finds it remarkable that DeChambeau always talks about improving his driving, which is already world-class, and not his iron play, which is far from it.
“It seems so odd because during every press conference, he’s like, ‘I just need to drive the ball a little bit better,” he said. “No, that’s not what is holding you back.
“I guarantee, if you pan to the range tonight, he would not be trying to dial in his pitching wedges and his gap wedges from 120 yards to 150. He would be staying there, wailing away on driving, trying to maximise and optimise that particular club.”
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