Although 28-year-old Bryson DeChambeau has yet to play an official PGA Tour event in the 2021-2022 season, his previous campaign resulted in a pair of wins, including his first major title in the 2020 U.S. Open and a seventh-place finish in the FedEx Cup, the same position he was in at the start of the playoffs.
With Christmas approaching, we have a few wishes for the longest driver on Tour and the sometimes controversial figure.
Wishing DeChambeau Keeps Going Long
DeChambeau’s flamboyant style and prodigious length is good for golf, so we wish he just keeps it up to add some variety to what can sometimes look like a production line of players that come out of the top golf programs.
With the new rules on the lengths allowed in drivers necessitating a change from 48 inches to 46, we just wish the former SMU player can make the required adjustments and continue to be able to hit the ball a long way.
By dialing back the length of the drivers, it’s almost as if the USGA, R&A, and the PGA Tour are in some way daring DeChambeau to come up with some new method of adding distance to his game. It will be fascinating to see what he unveils at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to open his season.
Wishing for More Jabs at Competitors but a Better Match
His ongoing feud with Brooks Koepka finally resulted in a truce of sorts as the pair both represented their country in the Ryder Cup, but the contrived 12 hole match play contest over Thanksgiving weekend between the two lacked much appeal, especially since DeChambeau played so poorly that Koepka mercifully ended the duel after just nine holes with a 4 and 3 victory.
We wish DeChambeau would keep poking his fellow PGA Tour players because it’s entertaining and gives us something to write about in a sport that is expected to be played with a certain amount of decorum.
Wishing for More Wins
In six years on Tour, DeChambeau has racked up eight wins, but three of those came in 2017-2018 and two more last season. While this might seem like an inconsistent wish with hoping he continues to demonstrate his ability to hit the ball a long way, it would be nice to see how well DeChambeau can play if he puts less emphasis on length and more on results.
He showed his all-around prowess with his impressive closing 67 at Winged Foot to win the U.S. Open by six shots, but he could benefit from a more traditional approach at times, depending on the golf course. There are also times when his volatile emotions get in his way, so chilling out a bit might help him realize his full potential.
Wishing for an On Course Rivalry with a Fellow Tour Player
While the Koepka back and forth resulted in an eventual television event, it would be great for the game if DeChambeau dueled down the stretch in multiple events with another top player, especially one who has a totally different style.
The differing schedules and global aspect of the modern PGA and DP World Tours somewhat limit consistent head-to-head Sunday matchups, but it’s Christmas, and we’re making wishes, not predicting reality.
