After adding nearly 40 pounds of muscle in the last eight months courtesy of an extreme weight lifting routine, Bryson DeChambeau is experiencing a power surge on the PGA Tour.
DeChambeau won last weekend’s Rocket Mortgage Classic after finishing fifth, second, fourth, third, eighth and sixth (including ties) in his previous six tournaments.
A huge part of the 26-year-old’s hot streak has been his increased ability to drive the ball, as DeChambeau ranks first on the PGA Tour in average yards per drive at 323 yards. That average — which is higher than Hank Kuehne’s 2003 record average of 321.4 — is an increase of more than 20 yards for DeChambeau, who averaged 302.5 yards per drive last year.
363 yards off the first tee for @b_dechambeau. 🙌#MustSeeMoments: https://t.co/EnqKxpTOns pic.twitter.com/cGCYfFIWFj
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 4, 2020
According to FiveThirtyEight, only three other PGA players have improved their driving distance by more than 20 yards per drive between seasons since 1980, when the Tour began tracking the statistic.
Though the increase in power has led to a slight decrease in DeChambeau hitting the fairway with accuracy, his newfound ability to drive the ball alone has allowed him to pick up 1.113 strokes per round on the field.
Bryson is on X Games mode. 🤯pic.twitter.com/pskDNq0fl6
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) June 12, 2020
Listed at 240 pounds and routinely hitting drives 50 yards past the competition at speeds approaching 200 miles an hour, DeChambeau wants to get bigger and swing even harder next season.
“If I could get to 260 pounds and swing it upward of 210 miles an hour and control the ball, that would be amazing,” DeChambeau told The New York Times last month.
And, prior to next season, DeChambeau’s newfound power may give him a leg up on the competition at the Masters at Augusta National.
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