1. Bryson bests Winged Foot Our Ron Montesano…“DeChambeau balanced strategy and sinew to perfection, decoding the challenges and opportunities offered by the West Course at Winged Foot, and he claimed his first major title just four days after his 27th birthday.” “For nine holes on Sunday, DeChambeau was in a battle with pairing competitor Matthew Wolff. First #BigBangTheory, and then #RipDog, posted eagle at the par-five 9th, thanks to identical driver-pitching wedge combos. They went to the back nine at 5 under and 4 under, respectively. At 10, Wolff’s iron turned over just enough to miss the green and leave him the most awkward of stances. He made bogey, and the lead was doubled. The eagle at nine turned out to be Wolff’s only hole below par all day, and he would drop three more shots on the way in. Wolff finished the week at even-par, a number that many projected to win after Friday’s round.” “DeChambeau simply gave no openings to anyone on this final day. His final birdie came at the 11th after his approach failed to release and finished on the fringe. Undeterred, he putted from the fairway, as he had all week, and the sphere found the bottom of the tin can. DeChambeau didn’t hit many fairways this week, but he didn’t need to. Clubhead speed and short approach shots conquered the rough, and the Calixan (a blend of Californian and Texan) played the course as if it were just another Fortnite stream on Twitch.” Full piece. 2. For Bryson (and potentially golf), this is just the beginning… From Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner’s superb piece…“Though he’s a polarizing figure, though he’s memed and mocked, DeChambeau is also easy to admire. Greatness is hard work, and he puts in the time. Early in the morning, late at night, he finds salvation on the range.” “He sacrifices everything for this game,” Tucker [BAD’s caddie] said. “All he’s done his whole life is try to be the best. They tell you, ‘Oh, you can do anything.’ But what they don’t tell you is you have to sacrifice everything to be great.” “So, hey, tip your Hogan cap: DeChambeau set an ambitious goal and achieved it. He led the Tour in driving distance (322.1 yards) this past season and gained more than a stroke per round on the field off the tee, tops on Tour. He won a tournament, contended in several others and positioned himself to win the first two majors of 2020 (after entering the year with no major finish better than 15th) despite setups that were supposed to discourage his aerial attack. “It’s definitely validating,” he said.” Full piece. 3. Wolff comes up short Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Wolff began the final round at the U.S. Open with a two-stroke lead over Bryson DeChambeau and despite a rough start he was still just a shot off the lead when the final group made the turn. That’s when things went sideways.” “Was it the break on 10 when I was standing in the bunker or like the not-left bounce on 12, and then the second shot that got pin high on 12 and then spun back down the slope?” said Wolff, who closed with a 75 and finished in second place and six strokes behind DeChambeau. “I mean, it’s just bad breaks. Like I said, you can’t do anything about it, and it just wasn’t meant to be.” “Following an eagle at the ninth, Wolff bogeyed Nos. 10 and 14, and doubled the 16th, on his way to his worst round of the week. Still, it was his second consecutive top-10 finish in a major championship and a valuable chance to learn how to deal with the pressure that comes with playing for major title.” Full piece. 4. Lynch: Toil and intellect Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch filed his perspective piece on BAD’s victory…A morsel “In adopting a scientific approach to every aspect of his game, DeChambeau expects his carefully (some might say laboriously) calculated input to deliver a predictable output, which is an awfully high happiness bar to set in a sport that is hostage to the vagaries of chance, bounce and weather. Such a mindset would seem to guarantee frustration, and frustration is the very stress fracture that the U.S. Open is designed to locate, from which it will then prise a man open until it exposes every other weakness he didn’t think he had.” “But that kind of U.S. Open is now a relic of a bygone era, one when courses were characters in the narrative and none evoked more fear than Winged Foot. Strategy is now dictated not by course architects but by player preference. The main peril DeChambeau faced at Winged Foot would come from a potential swing screw-up, not the USGA’s course set-up. Limit the former and the latter doesn’t matter. He did, and it didn’t.” Full piece. 5. More 48-inch driver discussion Per Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Length is going to be a big advantage there. I know that for a fact,” DeChambeau said. “I’m going to try and prepare by testing a couple things with the driver.” “DeChambeau’s pre-Masters prep will include continuing to experiment with a 48-inch driver shaft. After averaging 336.3 yards off the tee at Winged Foot, DeChambeau doesn’t plan on stopping in his quest for distance.” “We’re going to be messing with some head designs and do some amazing with things with Cobra to make it feasible to hit these drives maybe 360, 370 [yards],” he said. “Maybe even farther. I don’t know.” Full piece. 6. Rory on Bryson Golf Channel’s Will Gray…”Bryson DeChambeau’s six-shot victory at the U.S. Open left many in the game shaking their heads and trying to make sense of a dominant performance. Included in that group was former U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy.” …”I don’t really know what to say because that’s just the complete opposite of what you think a U.S. Open champion does. Look, he’s found a way to do it,” McIlroy said. “It’s not the way I saw this golf course being played, or this tournament being played. It’s kind of hard to really wrap my head around it.” ….”I think it’s brilliant, but I think he’s taken advantage of where the game is at the minute,” McIlroy said. “Look, again, whether that’s good or bad, but it’s just the way it is. With the way he approaches it, with the arm-lock putting, with everything, it’s just where the game’s at right now. I’m not saying that’s right or wrong. He’s just taking advantage of what we have right now.” Full piece. 7. “Validation on steroids” Golfweek’s Todd Kelly…“Validation on steroids.”…”NBC analyst Paul Azinger uttered those words on Sunday during the final round of the U.S. Open.” …”DeChambeau has been dogged by the steroid accusations. Putting on all that bulk and bragging about all those protein shakes will do it, it seems. But the insinuations are unfair nonetheless.” “Azinger explained to Golfweek by text message Sunday night that his words were taken out of context.” “If anyone was thinking I was implying that Bryson was on steroids they completely misinterpreted that,” he said. “They get tested twice a week for crying out loud. Bad choice of words. He took a lot of (bleep) and validated everything he’s done. If that needs cleaning up then the world has gone to hell.” Full piece. 8. Meanwhile, on other tours… Jim Furyk won on the Champions Tour…AP report...”Jim Furyk joined Arnold Palmer and Bruce Fleisher as the only players to win their first two PGA Tour Champions starts, beating Jerry Kelly with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff in the Pure Insurance Championship.” “Furyk and Kelly both laid up on the par-5 18th in the playoff, with Kelly hitting his approach to 10 feet and Furyk following with a 90-yard wedge to 3 feet. Furyk holed his birdie try after Kelly pulled his attempt.” “The 50-year-old Furyk closed with a 5-under 67 – a day after losing the lead to Ernie Els with a second-round 73 – to match Kelly at 12-under 204. Playing three groups ahead of Furyk and four in front of Els, Kelly birdied the 18th for a 65.” Full piece. And on the LPGA Tour…AP report…”Georgia Hall won the Cambia Portland Classic on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour victory in the United States, beating Ashleigh Buhai with a par on the second hole of a playoff.” “Hall won after falling into a tie with a bogey on the part-4 18th in regulation. The 24-year-old Englishwoman, the 2018 Women’s British Open champion, matched Buhai with a par on 18 on the first extra hole and won on the par-4 first at Columbia Edgewater.” Full piece. 9. Bryson’s winning WITB Driver: Cobra King SpeedZone (7.5 degrees @5.5) Shaft: LA Golf BAD Prototype 60 TX 3-wood: Cobra King SZ Tour (14.5 @11.5 degrees) Shaft: LA Golf BAD Prototype 70 TX 3-wood: Cobra King SZ Tour (14.5 degrees @13.5) Shaft: LA Golf BAD Prototype 80 TX Irons: Cobra King SZ One Length (4, 5), Cobra King Forged Tour One Length (6-PW) Shafts: LA Golf Rebar Proto Wedges: Artisan Prototype (50 @47, 55 @52, 60 @58) Shafts: LA Golf Rebar Proto shaft Putter: SIK Prototype Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X Grips: Jumbo Max Tour