The American’s startling victory at the US Open has split opinion because his radical approach is a challenge to the way things have always been done in golfYou couldn’t miss Bryson DeChambeau at the Masters in 2016. He was 22 and just out of college. He should, in fact, have been midway through the senior year but he’d quit to take what he called a “six-month apprenticeship” on tour. So here he was, strutting around Augusta National in his flat cap and bright red shirt, clean cut, square-shouldered and riding high up the leaderboard. After 35 holes he was one shot off the lead, then he made a triple bogey on the 18th. DeChambeau finished tied for 21st, the best...
American was only player under par at Winged Foot and is already looking forward to taking his long hitting to AugustaThe Green Jackets cannot say they have not been warned. With seven weeks to go until the Masters begins under towering Georgia pines, Bryson DeChambeau has promised to mirror – or enhance – the approach that delivered US Open glory on Sunday.DeChambeau is not the sport’s most popular figure but, for now, he is easily its most significant. Should the Californian’s style of blast and gouge prevail at the Masters in November then we really would be in the midst of a revolution. “Length is going to be a big advantage there,” the new US Open champion said. “I know...
The one major that has eluded Phil Mickelson has beaten him for what looks a final time, but he deserves his status as one of the greatestPhil Mickelson may have come to terms with the fact he will never win a US Open long ago. The final confirmation delivered to the rest of us was just more striking than we were entitled to expect.Mickelson cut a shell-shocked figure when heading towards the Winged Foot scoring tent on Thursday, where the 79 at the foot of the card marked the left-hander’s highest 18-hole tally in his national open. Related: US Open golf 2020: second round – as it happened Related: Reed and DeChambeau set US Open pace while big names depart...
Millions of dollars are on offer each week but how sustainable are current funds with the pandemic affecting finances?The PGA Tour can claim to have enjoyed the last laugh. Cynicism about the viability of a new normal in golf’s big time was plentiful even after the Charles Schwab Challenge got under way in mid-June. A plan to welcome spectators back within a month swiftly fell by the wayside and there were some coronavirus-related player decisions to raise eyebrows but, generally, the PGA Tour’s travelling circus has reached this weekend’s season-ending juncture unscathed. There is, in fact, cause to praise golf’s professional return on both sides of the Atlantic as a sporting success story. Related: Sophia Popov snub is as extraordinary...
German’s unlikely triumph at Royal Troon gave her sport rare exposure but the fairytale has been lashed with a hammerGolf doesn’t have an equivalent to the own goal, which is just as well for those who administer the second women’s major of the year. If such a straightforward comparison existed, the ANA Inspiration might have been subject to more candid criticism than has already been the case. Matters relating to Sophia Popov, golf’s player of the moment, depict a sport unwilling to help itself.Popov delivered one of the finest stories of this sporting year when easing to Women’s Open glory at Royal Troon. She began the tournament as the world’s 304rd-ranked player, her last payday had been as a caddie...