Rory McIlroy got a close-up look at Bryson DeChambeau’s “cunning” pace in June, and the way the US Open won the U.S. encouraged McIlroy to run extra speed and speed … at cost.
With Sky Sports Golf
Last updated: 14/03/21 6:06 pm
Bryson DeChambeau encouraged Rory McIlroy to add extra speed to his swing
Rory McIlroy has not hidden his high praise for Bryson DeChambeau over the past year, but admitted he had improved things with his track record as he ran. speed and distance more than a surprise to many.
DeChambeau’s physical transformation is well documented, gaining about three stone in weight – mostly in muscle mass – and the impact on his achievements has been one of the points. hottest talk since golf resumed after coronavirus shutdown last year.
Proving that hitting the ball longer than anyone else was the best course of action for success, DeChambeau traded precision for raw power and the rewards came early. After the PGA Tour returned at the Charles Schwab Challenge in June, the Americans scored three top-10 finishes just before making the trip to a three-stroke victory in Detroit.
McIlroy missed the cut by 10 hits at Sawgrass
McIlroy, long regarded as one of the Tour’s longest-running champions, got a close look at DeChambeau’s strategy when they were put together for Colonial’s final round, and it was something captured when he was always under control.
“Bryson’s speed advantage is subtle,” he said ahead of RBC Heritage next week. “He’s big. He’s kind of gone down a path. He’s condemned, and he’s following him. That’s what he did.
“He was always thinking outside the box and thinking something a little different to most people. He’s really set his mind to growing up. longer, and he has certainly done that. “
McIlroy, however, insisted he would not follow the same path and aimed to pile on the pounds, feeling that he took out his best golf with a weight of about “half as much ”as DeChambeau.
Bryson appreciates McIlroy’s comments
Bryson DeChambeau was satisfied that Rory McIlroy was trying to report on his effort for more speed
“I really feel my best when I’m lighter,” he said. “I feel better when I’m lighter. I feel more supple. I feel like I can gain a little more speed. I don’t feel great when I gain weight. I was probably at the lightest at the start of the season, that is Swing California, at Torrey Pines. “
But it was clear that McIlroy was surprised by the way DeChambeau won his career so far at the U.S. Open, getting the upper hand on the fearsome Winged Foot with a golf brand never seen before. course described by Tiger Woods as one of the three toughest versions on the main rota.
DeChambeau announced in advance that he intended to “hit the ball as far as I can”, and when the media questioned his tactics and warned him of the dangers of losing the fair way, he said: “Even if I hit it in the rough, I still will. i feel like i can make birdies out here. I still feel like I can run up the middle of the green and make a 20-footer. “
His daring strategy paid off, blowing his way to a six-shot victory, when he hit just 23 hits – the lowest U.S. Open winner in history.
6:14 The full interview follows the visit from Rory McIlroy, where he admitted that trying to add more length to his game – partly influenced by the US Open victory at Bryson DeChambeau – has led to his current swing problems
“I don’t know what to say because that’s just the opposite of what you think the U.S. Open champion will do,” said McIlroy, who raised his eyes when he appeared to win an eight-shot win. at Congressional in 2011, albeit within a more traditional style.
“Look, he’s found a way to do it. Whether that’s good or bad for the game, I don’t know, but it’s not just the way I saw this golf course being played or the tournament. this is playing.It’s kind of hard to really do wrap my head around it.
“I think he’s great, but I think he’s taken advantage of where the game is at the moment. Whether that’s good or bad, it’s just the way it is. With the way he approaches it, the lock of the lock, with everything., that’s exactly where the game is right now.
“I’m not saying that’s right or wrong. It just takes advantage of what we have right now.”
McIlroy admitted that speed training had adversely affected his swing
What McIlroy revealed after losing the cut by 10 strokes at Sawgrass is that DeChambeau’s U.S. win encouraged him to “get into that stuff”, taking time out of practice. regular to have “distance training”.
He posted results about his ball speed and increased speed with a driver on social media in early October, but the general impression was that his new equipment was the most likely catalyst.
But McIlroy acknowledged that the results were more physical than technical, and acknowledged that the drills had been “destructive to my swing”.
When asked why he went down that route when he was already a big fan, he took the age to gather his thoughts before giving his carefully considered answer. . “I’d be lying if I said it had nothing to do with what Bryson did at the U.S. Open. I think a lot of people saw that and they were like, ‘who’ – if this is the way it is. whether they are going to set up golf courses in the future will help.
McIlroy was heavily influenced by the U.S. Open DeChambeau
“The only thing people don’t understand is how good Bryson is out of the rough. Not just because of how straight he is but because his short nails are bigger. longer than normal, so he gets a little more distance through the rough than us, the other boys.
“And I thought it was a good thing to gain a little more speed, and maybe I just – damaged a bit of my swing, I got there, but I have to put me back in a little while. “