Bryson DeChambeau says he 'wrecked' his hands prepping for long-drive competition ahead of Ryder Cup
This might be the most Bryson DeChambeau thing yet.
With the Ryder Cup scheduled to start on Sept. 24, the big-bombing golf pro is undergoing grueling training — to compete in long-drive competitions.
Yes, the PGA Tour's most divisive player has offered up the reddest of meat to his critics, going into proud and painstaking detail with Golf.com about his long-drive aspirations, which appear to be taking up all of his bandwidth between now and the start of Ryder Cup play.
Consider this revelation from Tuesday's profile:
“My hands are wrecked from it,” DeChambeau said as he showed off calluses on his palms. “People don’t realize how difficult long drive really is."
So why exactly is DeChambeau wrecking (his words, not ours) his hands? Let him explain. Here's his Aug. 27 announcement accepting an invitation to The Professional Long Driver's Association World Championship starting Sept. 27, a day after the conclusion of Ryder Cup play.
Alongside his video announcement accompanied by Bryson-esqe high-octane club music, DeChambeau vowed to "continue to play my best golf with my regular day job."
But c'mon. This long-drive thing is where his heart's at, right?
“It’s more of an arena environment with massive speakers pumping music and energy drinks to get you amped up,” DeChambeau told Golf.com. ... “It’s totally different from the environment on Tour. I appreciate and respect that environment, but the long drive environment is tailored more to what I like to do because you can say things and do things that are a little different than out here.”
Per Golf.com, he'll be the first full-time PGA Tour pro to compete in the Nevada long-drive competition. He's going all in.
DeChambeau's schedule until the start of Ryder Cup play will include six days a week of speed training and what he described as “two-a-days” to get his Tour-best bombs to long-drive levels. He told Golf.com that his 211 mph ball speed can't yet compete with the 214 mph missiles launched by long-drive pro Reid Russell. But he's working real hard at it, taking the same painstaking, calculated approach he's famous for on the PGA Tour in an all-out effort to compete on Sept. 27.
“How do I train my body in a way where those guys are training the same way and they’re seeing speed gains?" DeChambeau told Golf.com. "That’s what I’m trying to figure out. How are they training to see those speed gains?"
So how's the Ryder Cup prep going? He didn't expound much.
"I know how to kind of balance it — for the most part," DeChambeau said.
He finished the Tour season strong with top 10s in the BMW Championship and Tour Championship. But can he really be prepared for actual golf after weeks of Happy Gilmore swings? His performance will tell.
If he lets his teammates down, here's guessing Brooks Koepka will be be more than ready to break his vow of silence.