Photo from Google Images
In the St.Clair Family golf bet we have two traditions; I always have Dustin Johnson on my team and my mom, twin, and I always pick on my Dad. Picking on my Dad never gets old, it’s just too easy. My Dad loves Phil Mickelson, so naturally the rest of us love Tiger. (I still think Phil looks like he’s the kind of guy who drives a car with a back seat full of empty fast food cups and wrappers. All that money and he still can’t afford a good barber.)
The U.S. Open is the only Major Phil hasn’t won. Messy Phil seems to only do well when he plays from the senior tees these days, so he wasn’t in the top 24 for the 6 golfers per St.Clair betting team. When my Dad picked Bryson DeChambeau on his team it was as if the sports Gods were begging me to just hand my dad a protein shake and let the trolling begin.
While the Master’s is the most prestigious Major to win in golf, the U.S. Open is the most difficult to win. Traditionally played on Father’s Day weekend, but due to Covid, it was pushed back three months. This year it was held at Winged Foot West Course Mamaroneck, NY (par 70). A course designed to punish the professionals with brutal greens, tight fairways and rough that lives up to its name. The experts expected the winner to have a “plus” next to their final score and all eyes were on the FedEx Cup Champion and the Player of the Year, Dustin Johnson.
Then, all eyes were on Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau. If 2020 was summed up in a golf photo, it would be a picture of Reed and DeChambeau. They are two most unliked players in golf and they don’t even like each other. Let’s skip past the four rounds of golf where the best golfers in the world were humiliated by missed fairways and punishing putts. The beauty of the U.S. Open is that there is diverse history in who has held the Championship Trophy. Anyone can win, but the U.S. Open is the hardest win to earn.
Reed fell apart in the final round and DeChambeau’s finishing 6-under-par to lead by six over Matthew Wollf and win his first Major. All you heard about was how DeChambeau’s new ground breaking “science” is going to change the future of golf. DeChambeau is 27-years old and who turned into a mad scientist during quarantine while there was a pause on PGA tours. He hung out with his only friends, protein shakes, to bulk up with the idea that more strength will equal hitting the ball closer to the hole. His Happy Gilmore swing is fast and jerky and lacking any finesse. DeChambeau is the only person over the age of 16 who would brag about a 40-pound weight gain. I mean is that even healthy for your arteries? It is not healthy for someone who likes to wear white pants on the golf course.
Sure, changing his irons to all be the same length makes sense to me. It’s the same swing and the same grip every time. (That’s now groundbreaking science.) He had to have new clubs made because he has broken them from leaning on them with all that extra weight. Sure, leaving the flagpole in the hole has its advantages. (Easier to see the hole, see wind direction from the flag, use the pole as a backboard, blah, blah, blah.) This is not “science” this is simply using your resources. And the rest of his science fair project looks more like the blueprints for a psychotic golfer who just finished his 7th protein shake.
Just because DeChambeau’s U.S. Open win added him to the short list of players who won the U.S. Amateur, the NCAA individual title and the U.S. Open with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, it doesn’t mean he is going to be Jack or Tiger.
Does this mean the future of golf is going to be full of guys flexing their muscles in a tank top after each swing and celebrating birdies with a protein shake? Gosh, please, NO! Golf coverage is jumping to conclusions on the future of golf. Bryson is always trying to get ahead either by eating a snack after each hole or complaining about ants on the course. In his 16 career Major starts, he has missed the cut 6 times, 1 T4, 1 T15, and the rest of his finishes are too far down the page to scroll. Having a Major win is undeniably a remarkable achievement. But let’s not think that just because you have a lot of luck fall your way during one tournament or even over a few tournaments does not mean that you going to be the future of golf.
Just look at Jordan Spieth! In 2015 and in part of 2017 when he won his third major and the world of golf thought he was going to win more Majors than Tiger (15) and Jack (18). Golf is not just physical, it’s mental.
My Dad ate dinner Sunday night with a grin on his face and I rolled my eyes as he basked in his victory. I asked him how he could be proud of that win when no one on the PGA tour even likes DeChambeau. My Dad just quoted FDR by saying “he may be a son of a bitch, but he’s my son of a bitch”. Dad, he is all yours.