Golf: Why Bryson DeChambeau is anything but boring

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and to make sure that it’s riveting to watch. This mindset is rare in professional golf nowadays. In their heyday, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer always made time to mingle with fans, conduct golf instruction workshops, and speak about the game at forums.

They considered public outreach and growth of the game a part of their roles as golf’s biggest stars. It’s courtesy of their efforts, and of their peers, that the game is as popular around the world as it is lucrative for the players. Playing professionals today can take a lot of that for granted.

While it’s unfair to apply the same standards, there is a sense of entitlement in a number of the top players today. That hubris does the game no favours. In all honesty, DeChambeau has always had us ‘old-school,’ or ‘traditional’—take your pick—fans of what Jack Nicklaus referred to as a ‘gentle game’, on the back foot.

What with his brutish drives, robotic putting action, and a seemingly unsophisticated way of playing the game—that caters to the fans more than a gameplan—DeChambeau doesn’t conform to our somewhat hallowed—some would say hackneyed—notions about the game. The man has ditched regular golf equipment: he plays with unique same-length clubs that no one else uses. Meanwhile, his technique—no one can charge him with possessing an elegant golf swing—is something he’s created on his own in tandem with a beefed up physique that allows him to make that swing.

When he emerged after the three-month covid layoff in 2020, DeChambeau had transformed from a lanky kid to an American football linebacker. His violent new action dispatched the golf ball into long-drive territory whilst being surprisingly accurate. But he was still regarded as something of an oddity—the Bryson