Between 2020 and 2021, Bryson DeChambeau was seemingly on a mission to take down PGA Tour courses with his record-breaking driving distance.
In 2020, DeChambeau became the first player to average over 320 yards throughout a PGA Tour season. What’s more, the American was pushing his body to the limits in the pursuit of extra yards.
DeChambeau bulked up to increase his swing speed but in an interview with Golf.com, the two-time major winner admitted that his weight gain was a mistake.
The peak of DeChambeau’s obsession with distance came during the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. DeChambeau took down the Florida course with numerous huge drives, most notably on the par-five sixth.
The sixth at Bay Hill circles around a vast water feature, and players are ‘traditionally’ meant to play to the right before laying up or going for the green in two. DeChambeau, however, opted to hit straight over the water and directly at the green. He carried the hazard with ease when the wind conditions allowed.
What Jordan Spieth said about Bryson DeChambeau at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational
Jordan Spieth played alongside DeChambeau at Bay Hill and expressed his disappointment after he didn’t witness DeChambeau take on the sixth due to the swirling wind conditions.
“I got the text on Tuesday with the pairing, and I thought, what better place to be paired with him than here, with some of these holes,” Spieth said.
“Hey, I was, it was really, really — I was really upset that the wind was flipping around when we got to six because he would have taken it really far left. It was actually into the wind, which it was forecasted that it was straight down. So we were kind of dealing with a little bit of that today, and it’s probably a good thing he didn’t try to go straight over the left side. But, yeah, there are some holes; I mean ten today; he took out the driver and hit it just in front of the green on ten. He’s done that on a number of holes out here. He’s hit the fairway on 15 twice, which is pretty ridiculous, with driver.”
Spieth added: “What’s amazing to me, obviously it’s coming off his driver fast, which it does for Rory and Cam Champ. There are a number of guys who strike the ball, and it just sounds a little different like that, but the amount of control he has with how hard he’s going at it is really impressive. I mean, he’s driving the ball extremely well and straight.
“Honestly, like I figured — I mean, if I’m going to be shorter than him, I would like to be straighter, and I don’t think I was those two days. I don’t think I hit as many fairways. So I’m going to need to work on my own driver. But more from that accuracy standpoint than distance. It’s a show. It’s fun. It was really cool to watch. I nudged Michael half a dozen times the last two days, being like, Watch this, you know, and that doesn’t happen out here very often.”
Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau’s performances at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational
DeChambeau went on to win the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational after finishing one shot clear of Lee Westwood. The American’s strategy on the sixth paid off after he birdied the hole three out of the four days.
The 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational was actually DeChambeau’s last regular PGA Tour victory before he signed for the LIV Golf League in 2022. The now 31-year-old won nine times on Tour and earned $34m.
As for Spieth, the three-time major winner was in contention before falling away in the final round. Spieth dropped shots on three of the last four holes to end the week in a tie for fourth.
After returning from injury, Spieth will play next week’s Cognizant Classic before heading back to Bay Hill for the fourth Signature Event of the season.
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