Double Take
Bryson DeChambeau at Bay Hill’s par-5 sixth in 2016 vs. Saturday isn’t even the same person
It can’t be, right? We all know the transformation Bryson DeChambeau has undergone over the course of the past 18 months. Obviously we’ve watched, white-knuckled, as he’s chased ball speeds well north of 200 mph. We’ve marveled at his gym chronicles and not-so-secretly snickered when Amen Corner became the architect of his destruction, not the subject of it. But still, when the social admins at the PGA Tour synced up Bryson DeChambeau's tee shot on Bay Hill’s now-infamous sixth hole as an amateur in 2016 vs. Saturday, when he attempted to (and nearly succeeded in) driving the green of the 555-yard par-5, we couldn’t help but do a spit-take double-take. Blink hard and check it out.
So first things first, the sartorial game has improved considerably. We’re not sure what Bryson was thinking going to head-to-toe cerulean with the golf equivalent of a red beret, but we’ll chalk it up to being young and dumb. This writer once owned a pair of JNCOs, after all. The next thing you notice is the mass, and lord knows Bryson has cultivated plenty of it, going from Bill Nye to The Undertaker in a matter of months. Combine all of that with his updated swing—the caveman back angle at address, the drag race-tempo, the double fist pump celebration (STEVE HOLT!)—and you have the makings of a completely different human being.
Call it a hunch, call it a conspiracy theory, but the real Bryson is probably tied up in a basement somewhere, just as skinny as he was during his Bay Hill amateur debut half a decade ago. That’s the only rational explanation, and with God as our witness, we’ll prove it . . . well, after The Players that is. Bryson or “Bryson,” that spectacle is just too good to pass up.