ORLANDO, Fla. – When Bryson DeChambeau dismantled Winged Foot and won the 2020 U.S. Open by six strokes, some believed he was reinventing the game.
Both the USGA and R&A were well on their way to examining the length modern players hit the golf ball. But DeChambeau’s unique brand of power golf didn’t go unnoticed, and when golf’s rule-makers unveiled a proposed “modified” golf ball for elite competitions earlier this month, his victory at Winged Foot was cited by some proponents of the change as Exhibit A.
But if DeChambeau, who transformed his body as well as his swing to become one of golf’s longest hitters, is the poster child of the modern game and its struggle with ever-increasing driving distances he’s also the first to lay out a much more nuanced approach to the distance debate.