Tiger Woods gets his first look at Bryson DeChambeau’s power

Tiger Woods found out on Wednesday why Bryson DeChambeau is the tour’s new sensation

Bryson DeChambeau has taken up the mantle once held by Tiger Woods and is running with it.

It used to be Woods who would overpower golf courses. He was both feared and admired for his work in the gym. He was the most impressive and intimidating physical specimen on the PGA Tour.

That distinction now belongs to DeChambeau, at least since the tour returned to play a month ago. DeChambeau has played four of the five tournaments during the PGA Tour’s return to golf; he hasn’t finished worse than eighth, won the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit two weeks ago, and is a combined 69-under, best on tour. His incredible prowess with the driver has left his competitors in awe as the player who was once known for his analytical and scientific approach has gained nearly 20 yards off the tee and 40 pounds of muscle.

Woods hasn’t played since mid-February, so his only experience with DeChambeau’s new-found power was secondary, what he could see on television. He finally got a chance to see it in person on Wednesday when the two played a practice round at Muirfield Village prior to the start of the Memorial Tournament.

Tiger Woods is impressed with Bryson DeChambeau.

It didn’t take long for him to be left amazed. The opening hole at Muirfield Village features a fairway bunker guarding the right side, a nearly 320-yard carry. Few players attempt to take it on because the fairway narrows that far down and doglegs to the right. DeChambeau cleared it easily on Wednesday.

“It was fun. I hit a drive on the first hole and Tiger said to (caddie Joe LaCava), ‘You get that number?’ He’s like, ‘I didn’t get that number’ to clear the bunker on the right-hand side of the fairway,” DeChambeau said later at this pre-tournament press conference. “He threw some jokes out there all day, but he wasn’t worried. He’s worried about winning the tournament this week, just like I am.”

According to people there to witness the round, DeChambeau consistently drove it 50 yards past Woods. Power was once the strength of Woods’ game, the factor that separated him from mere mortals. But DeChambeau is putting his achievements to shame. Woods has never averaged more than 316 yards off the tee in a season; he hasn’t ranked in the top-10 in driving distance since 2006. Even in his magical 2000 season, when he won nine times including three majors, Woods averaged less than 300 yards. DeChambeau is up to 323 this season, the best on tour.

But it’s not the distance that has caught Woods’ attention the most. It’s how accurate DeChambeau hits his drives, even as he easily blows it past his competitors. “What Bryson has done is no easy task. He’s got to put in the time and he has put in the reps, and he’s figured it out,” Woods said this week.

“He’s gotten stronger, faster, bigger, and has created more speed. But more importantly, he’s hitting it further, but let’s look at the fact that he’s hitting it as straight as he is. That’s part of the most difficult thing to do…So the fact that he’s figured that out and has been able to rein in the foul balls to me has been equally as impressive as his gains off the tee distance-wise.”

The 26-year-old DeChambeau is of an age where he grew up watching Woods. The native of the Fresno suburb of Clovis idolized his fellow California native as a young golfer. To be able to hit it like Woods was something every golfer dreamed of doing. DeChambeau was one of them, even as he doubted it would ever happen.

“I never imagined I would be hitting it this far,” he said. “That was never my game. I was never a long player growing up. So I never even thought about it. It wasn’t even a thought until this last fall when I started saying, you know what, maybe there’s something here. Maybe I could gain a little bit of yardage if I go down this route. And lo and behold, there was a lot of yardage to be gained that I found. Never thought I would’ve done when I was a kid.”

DeChambeau and Woods aren’t paired together this week; Woods is playing with Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka the first two rounds, while DeChambeau is paired with Collin Morikawa, last week’s winner, and defending champion Patrick Cantlay. They haven’t been in the same group yet this season, although they did play together the first two rounds at the Memorial last season.

Woods has won Jack Nicklaus’ tournament in Dublin, Ohio a record five times, most recently in 2012. DeChambeau won here in 2018 when he averaged 306 yards off the tee. He’s now 20 yards longer than he was then. He’s not only caught up to Woods in distance, he’s blown right past him. And at age 44, it might be too late for Woods, or anyone else on the PGA Tour, to catch him.