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Covering the impact of the coronavirus on the world of sport
The Bryson DeChambeau revolution is underway, although it is not yet fully visible DeChambeau, whom Rory McIlroy has called « the most talked about man in golf right now, » lit up the PGA Tour with its weight gain, distance advantage and US Open Victory
His story matters, not because you and I are talking about it, but because other golfers are talking about it When players weigh in on other players and their strategies uninvited, you know you have a monster tale in the hands
There’s even more going on with DeChambeau Not only are players talking about him, they are trying to emulate him Maybe not the weight gain or some of the other peculiarities, but the insane advantage in terms of speed and distance he created is now part of the equation for many of the world’s top 10 players
We saw it in the weeks after DeChambeauS U Open Victory when players like McIlroy and Dustin Johnson – not exactly two of the smallest guys in the world – tossed their Trackman numbers on social media May -being that the plan is not to become Bryson (I don’t know how many Brysons we can handle as a company) but rather to prove to themselves that they can create a facsimile if necessary
“Having length is an advantage and I’ve always been pretty long,” McIlroy said Wednesday at the CJ Cup. “But I felt like there was room for it. what I want to do is at least know I have it if I need it I’m not gonna try to do it all the time I’m not trying to get my ball speed up in the 190s to whenever i hit a driver but at least i know if i need to do it i can do it «
It would be one thing if the No. 830 players around the world did this (and maybe it does), but it’s another thing when a quadruple big winner thinks differently about the future because of only one guy
« From what I’ve done and what I’ve tried you know, kind of experimenting with the last two weeks, it’s the fastest I’ve ever moved from the club, the faster than my body has ever moved « added McIlroy » So yeah I think that’s the way the game plays «
One of McIlroy’s contemporaries – and perhaps the one he respects the most – said much the same thing the day before at Shadow Creek, site of this year’s CJ Cup
“I just want a little more speed,” said Justin Thomas “I feel like I was good at having other equipment, another 5 or 10 yards if I need it, but I don’t necessarily have those other 20 At the same time, and that’s not disrespectful to Bryson, I’m not gonna put on 40 pounds, I don’t have the height to do this I’ll look like a beach ball if I put on 40 pounds I can get stronger in different parts of my body which can help me hit it further and gain distance, but I hit it far enough to win tournaments and do well
« If there is one way I can use to gain an advantage, but at the end of the day if I keep hitting the same distance and playing the rest of my career injury free, it’s the most important and that’s what I tried to do with my training We’ll see if we can incorporate things that allow me a little more speed «
One of the hardest things to do in all of this is to build speed without losing flexibility, fitness or health This is a concern for DeChambeau, maybe not now but even in five years
Still, it seems pretty obvious which direction this is all going when the most recent big winner takes a month off from competitive golf to hit 48 inch drivers to prepare for the biggest event of the year – and nothing about it sounds crazy – so the future should be crystal clear World-class length is the meal ticket of tomorrow, and two of the top five players on the planet are – I can’t believe I’m saying this – trying to keep up.
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Rory McIlroy, Masters Tournament, Bryson DeChambeau, Augusta National Golf Club, PGA TOUR, THE CJ CUP
World News – UK – Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas test the waters in adding more speed to their swings as a new revolution begins
