DeChambeau wins in Detroit
Last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club delivered not only excitement, but our first bit of controversy as well. Bryson DeChambeau, nicknamed “The Mad Scientist” for his uniquely scientific approach to the golf swing, put the emphasis on “mad” after making a poor shot out of a greenside bunker on the par 5 7th hole during Saturday’s 3rd round, failing to get up and down for birdie. After angrily swatting the sand and then muttering various expletives while leaving the green, he then accosted a camera man for filming his less than professional display. Blowing his top at a camera man for simply doing his job raised a few eyebrows, but in spite of the momentary lapse, DeChambeau charged from three shots back of Matthew Wolff with a sizzling 65 on Sunday and cruised to victory. A new found power surge that he credits to an offseason change in diet and robust exercise regimen has him bombing it off the tee (one of his drives was measured at 375 yards). While he won’t be in the field for the first leg of the “Muirfield Double” at Jack’s course in Dublin, OH, we’ll get a chance to see him the week after for the Memorial where he recorded his second career win in 2018. Bryson has also vaulted to the odds-on favorite for winning one or more of the three majors coming up later this year.
The WorkDay Charity Open
The inaugural WorkDay Charity Open, and first leg of the “Muirfield Double” at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio begins this Thursday (July 9). The Jack Nicklaus masterpiece, and venue for the Memorial Tournament, has perennially drawn one of the strongest fields on the PGA Tour—and this year we get to enjoy it two weeks in a row. The powerhouse field will include Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, and Bubba Watson. Brooks Koepka’s younger brother, Chase, will also be teeing it up this week (the Tour graciously added him to the field after he qualified for the Travelers Championship but withdrew after learning that Brooks’ caddie had tested positive for COVID-19). In addition, the deep field will include Xander Schauffele (2017 Tour Championship winner and runner up in 2019), Hideki Matsuyama (2014 Memorial Champion), and Patrick Cantley (the reigning Memorial Champion).
Muirfield Village
Muirfield Village Golf Club was designed and founded by Jack Nicklaus in 1974 while he was at the height of his PGA Tour career (and he won the Memorial twice, in 1977 and 1984). Jack is notorious for designing difficult tracks, and Muirfield may be the toughest of all with a course rating of 78.6 and a slope of 155. In addition to Jack himself, the list of past winners at Muirfield reads like a who’s who among golf’s elite, including Tiger Woods (5-time winner of the Memorial), Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Ernie Els, Hale Irwin, Vijay Singh and Fred Couples. Known for its thick rough, tight fairways and firm greens, year in and year out Muirfield provides a test where the biggest names in golf can display their skills, and identifies the player who is at the very top of his game.
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