Bryson DeChambeau Will Ride a Heater into This Year’s Masters Tournament

What if I told you that one of the world’s best golfers will go into the upcoming Masters Tournament fresh off two wins in a row and with a pair of top-six finishes at Augusta National over the past two years?

You’d probably want some action on that guy.

Now what if I told you that the player is Bryson DeChambeau, who has a complicated history at Augusta and whose recent success has occurred against LIV Golf’s limited fields?

Perhaps you’d rethink that initial assessment … and perhaps that would turn out to be an unwise decision.

Before we look ahead to DeChambeau’s chances at the year’s first major championship in a couple of weeks, let’s review the first thing that comes to mind whenever Bryson and Augusta are simultaneously discussed.

It was six years ago, before the November-based Masters of 2020, when one of the game’s biggest hitters used his inside voice in a very public interview with Golf Channel.

“I’m looking at it as a par-67 for me, because I can reach all the par fives in two, no problem,” he explained. “If the conditions stay the way they are, that’s what I feel like par is for me.”

The jokes came quick and easy when DeChambeau opened with a “3-over par 70” that week, followed by scores of 74, 69 and 73, failing to break his own personal standard for par and also failing to crack the top-30, finishing in a share of 34^th place.

As if paying his karmic fines to the Golf Gods, Bryson only finished T-46 the following year, then it got even worse, as he missed the cut in each of the next two.

Prior to the second of those MCs, before the 2023 edition of this tournament, he spoke of that par-67 claim.

“Do I regret [it]? Everybody has a perspective on it,” he said. “I don’t think I regret anything. What I do understand is that I have a lot of respect for the course. … Hypothetically, theoretically, look, if you make 18 birdies it’s going to be 54, right? It’s a perfect score, right? Unattainable, 67 every day, unattainable. It can happen, but is it likely to happen?

Probably not. With the distance I’m hitting it and was hitting it, I thought there was a possibility, but that’s only with your ‘A’ game, and I should have rephrased that; if you have your ‘A’ game, there’s a good chance of being able to do that.”

Two years later, in an interview with The Telegraph, DeChambeau sounded more contrite in talking about the comments which carried a five-year-old shelf life.

“I’ve always since said I don’t regret saying that 67 thing, because I learned from that experience and it made me a better person,” he said “But do I wish I hadn’t said it? I do. Really, I do. Because it impacted some people negatively and I don’t want that, no matter how much of a benefit it might have been to me maturing. I can see that it was disrespectful to some and I’m sorry for that. Boy, it was a humbling experience. But for me it was simply from a statistical viewpoint and yardages and looking at, if I’m playing well, I could or should be hitting the greens in two or whatever.

“It was motivation for myself and not intended as anything otherwise. I’ve never disrespected Augusta internally.”

As is often the case these days, the masses read – and remember – the aggregated headlines, while failing to recall the aftermath. That’s not to suggest DeChambeau’s hot take should be forgotten forever, only that his mea culpa should be similarly recalled.

So, too, should his recent performances at Augusta National.

Two years ago, he was the first-round leader with a 65, eventually finishing in a share of sixth place – easily his best Masters result and his first top-25 since a T-21 as an amateur in 2016. Last year, he played in the final pairing on Sunday afternoon alongside Rory McIlroy, but a closing 75 left him T-5, though still a career-best.

Afterward, he stated, “I take a lot of good from this week. I’m excited for the rest of my life.”

That’s a particularly upbeat perspective, but it ranks as a stark contrast to the Bryson of a half-decade earlier, who sounded like he’d already had things figured out.

The truth is, these past two years at Augusta have proven that only now has he really figured out some secrets to a golf course which can perhaps be overpowered at times, but isn’t the type where simply bludgeoning the ball can fully equate to success.

No, a player has to be firing on all cylinders of his game, which brings us to DeChambeau’s recent spate of success, posting victories on LIV Golf in Singapore and South Africa the past two weeks, the latter coming in a playoff over Jon Rahm.

Some will disregard these triumphs due to the usual LIV refrain – he only competed against 56 other players, most of whom can’t even hang with his B-game, and won on a pair of courses which hardly resemble Augusta National.

All of that is fair, but it’s also fair to Bryson that we understand he can only win on the courses he’s playing and only beat the players he’s competing against.

The point is, it’s tough to find an elite-level player right now who’s riding as much of a heater as DeChambeau.

Scottie Scheffler has finished outside the top-20 in his last two. McIlroy withdrew with a back injury just a few weeks ago, then followed with a T-46 finish. Xander Schauffele is getting very close, but still might not be playing his best golf.

The answer certainly could be Cameron Young, who won The Players, preceded by two other top-10s in his previous two starts. Or Matt Fitzpatrick, who followed a runner-up at TPC Sawgrass with a victory in Tampa.

It’s difficult, though, to assess whether Young and Fitzpatrick have truly been “better” than DeChambeau lately – or if this is truly a 1A, 1B and 1C type of situation.

Whatever the case, the truth remains: One of the world’s best golfers has won his last two starts and will head to Augusta National in a few weeks with a pair of top-six Masters finishes in the past two years. We can downplay his competition and sneer at his “par-67” comments, but when it comes to smart bets for the year’s first major, DeChambeau might indeed be the smartest right now.