Fansided

PGA Tour: 5 players hoping to pick up where they left off

By David Salituro

JUNO BEACH, FLORIDA - MAY 17: Rory McIlroy of the American Nurses Foundation team plays his shot from the second tee during the TaylorMade Driving Relief Supported By UnitedHealth Group on May 17, 2020 at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
JUNO BEACH, FLORIDA - MAY 17: Rory McIlroy of the American Nurses Foundation team plays his shot from the second tee during the TaylorMade Driving Relief Supported By UnitedHealth Group on May 17, 2020 at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – MARCH 12: Bryson DeChambeau of the United Staters watches his tee shot on the 11th hole during the first round of The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – MARCH 12: Bryson DeChambeau of the United Staters watches his tee shot on the 11th hole during the first round of The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images) /

Bryson DeChambeau

No player has changed their game more over the past year than Bryson DeChambeau.

DeChambeau was known as the “mad scientist” when he first emerged on tour full-time in 2017, taking an analytical, methodical approach to the game. He still has his quirks (or oddities), but DeChambeau has transformed into a power player on the PGA Tour, attempting to out-muscle and not just out-think golf courses.

DeChambeau leads the PGA Tour this season in driving distance at 321.3 yards, nearly 20 yards longer than last season when he ranked 34th in that category. He’s third in strokes gained: off-the-tee. At the start of 2019, DeChambeau weighed 195 pounds; he’s now up to 225 pounds of solid muscle, thanks to his new commitment to strength training.

“It’s made me excited for the game again because I get to go back out and play a game that is completely different than what I knew it to be,” he told Golf.com back in January. “I flew a driver 315 yards into a 15 mph wind. I’ve never been able to do that before. So it’s really a new game for me. It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out.”

DeChambeau was in solid form when the tour halted play in March. He was runner-up at the WGC-Mexico Championship, briefly taking the lead on Sunday following a run of five birdies in six holes on the back-nine before finishing a shot behind Patrick Reed. His drives for the week averaged 355 yards, best in the field. He also finished in a tie for fifth at the Genesis Invitational and fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational

Even though the PGA Tour has been off-air for three months, DeChambeau has managed to keep himself in the public eye. His Twitch streams—featuring everything from Fortnite to his workout routine and golf practice—reach nearly 4,000 followers. Starting on Thursday, his fans will be able to watch him do something else, play an actual round of competitive golf.

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