Farmers Insurance Open
Bryson DeChambeau mum on his grimacing during rocky back nine at Torrey Pines
Bryson DeChambeau and his caddie walk to the fifth tee box south during the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open.
Ben Jared
SAN DIEGO — Bryson DeChambeau is starting to develop some mental scar tissue on the back nine of the Torrey Pines South Course. If he’s fortunate, it hasn’t become a physical pain, too.
Returning to the scene of his inward-nine collapse in the final round of the 2021 U.S. Open, when he led through the 10th hole only to drop eight shots over the final eight, DeChambeau found more trouble in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday with three bogeys. And even when he rallied to birdie 17 and 18, the World No. 9 still shot even-par 72 and missed the cut by one shot with a two-under total.
How rare is it for DeChambeau to be absent on the weekend? He only had two missed cuts in 22 starts last season and has missed just 35 in 134 career tour appearances.
What could have been most concerning, though, was the way DeChambeau seemed to grimace in discomfort for numerous shots on the back nine. He looked fine through his first nine, shooting one under, with three birdies over the last four holes. DeChambeau made a particularly spectacular birdie at No. 7, hitting a 362-yard drive into deep rough and launching his approach to seven feet.
But he began to grimace after his tee shot on the par-4 10th hole and appeared to be favoring his back. Golf Channel’s on-course reporter Arron Oberholser wondered, though, if it was DeChambeau's wrist that was bothering him. A sore left wrist caused DeChambeau to pull out of the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this month.
Whatever was bothering him, DeChambeau unraveled over the next five holes. He hit into the greenside bunker on the par-3 11th and couldn‘t get up and down. At the monster par-4 12th, playing 513 yards, he drove into a bunker on the right, missed the green right and bogeyed. At the par-4 15th, DeChambeau drove left into ice plant on the edge of the canyon, lashed his next shot only 60 yards into the rough and made another bogey. In reality, it was impressive work to not lose more shots.
DeChambeau kept from posting an over-par number when he holed out a bunker shot from 48 feet on 17 for birdie and birdied the par-5 18th after laying up from the rough and hitting his approach to 14 feet.
DeChambeau rarely speaks to the media after rounds, and he again chose not to do so on Thursday, although he did sign autographs for fans for 10 minutes. “I’m not doing interviews today,” he said to a reporter who asked if he had been in pain during the round.
If he has suffered some sort of injury, he’ll have a quick decision to make about his next step. He’s scheduled to fly to the Middle East to play in next week’s Saudi International.