Bryson DeChambeau wins Rocket Mortgage Classic by 3 shots

Published 2:11 pm Monday, July 6, 2020

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BY LARRY LAGE

AP SPORTS WRITER

DETROIT (AP) — Bryson DeChambeau pounded protein shakes and lifted iron to transform his body, adding 40 pounds of mass, and changed his game to put a premium on power.

The plan is working.

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With jaw-dropping drives and some clutch putts, DeChambeau won the Rocket Mortgage Classic by three strokes Sunday for his first victory of the season and sixth overall.

He became the first PGA Tour player since 2004 to lead a tournament in driving distance, along with shots gained off the tee and putting.

“This is a little emotional for me because I did do something a little different,” the 26-year-old DeChambeau said. “I changed my body, changed my mindset in the game and I was able to accomplish a win while playing a completely different style of golf. And, it’s pretty amazing to see that. I hope it’s an inspiration to a lot of people.”

DeChambeau shot a 7-under 65 at Detroit Golf Club, birdieing four of the first seven holes and closing with three straight. He finished at a career-best 23-under 265.

Matthew Wolff (71) was second. He started the day with a three-shot lead and hurt his chances with five bogeys over his first 10 holes. Kevin Kisner (66) finished another stroke back as part of a relatively weak field that continued to trend of exceptional play since the PGA Tour restarted.

“The level of play on tour in these first four weeks has been incredible, cuts at 4 and 5 under every week,” Kisner said.

With a strong finish, DeChambeau removed all doubt that he would win the second Rocket Mortgage Classic.

He made a 30-foot birdie putt at No. 16, which he said was his shot of the day. He also had a short putt for birdie on the next hole. And finally, he uncorked a 367-yard drive to set up another short putt at 18.

DeChambeau came into the week with six straight top-eight finishes and was the only player with top 10s in the first three events after the restart from the coronavirus pandemic. He won for the first time since the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in November 2018.

DeChambeau has dramatically altered his body, packing about 240 pounds on his 6-foot-1 body, and took advantage of the extra time he had to work on his physique during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He understands what is the key to gaining the biggest advantage and that’s distance, and mega distance,” Kisner said. “He just has too much time on his hands. He needs to start getting married and having kids and feel like the rest of us.”

DeChambeau’s power was on full display in the Motor City with drives that went 351 yards on average after looking like he might swing out of his spikes.

When DeChambeau was on the tee box at the 399-yard, par-4 13th, he waited for the next group to leave the green before hitting his drive so that he didn’t hit any fellow competitors.

“No, I’ve never done that,” he acknowledged. “I really could have gotten there.”

His drive on the 621-yard, par-5 fourth went way left and landed in greenside rough on an adjacent hole. He cleared towering trees and landed just short of the green, sending his approach 276 yards and he two-putted from 37 feet.

“That was probably my second best moment of the day,” DeChambeau said. “I got really quite honestly pretty lucky being able to get over these trees and let it land and roll onto the front edge of the green.”

As his body and power become a fixation for those who follow golf, more eyes are on him and it bothered him during the third round.

On Saturday, DeChambeau had a testy exchange with a TV cameraman after a bogey on the sixth hole. After the third round, he bristled that it isn’t right showing a potential vulnerability and hurting someone’s image.

DeChambeau, though, tried to soften his stance on the issue Sunday by saying the cameraman was just trying to do his job.

During the final round, he was also briefly distracted by a commotion outside the course.

While a Black Lives Matter protests were gathering outside the Detroit Golf Club, breaking the silence of the fan-free event with chants and air horns, DeChambeau took some time to reset before hitting a 366-yard drive.

“I know there’s a lot of strife and trouble going on right now,” he said. “I love that everybody’s voicing their opinion and I think that they deserve to do so.

“We’re golfers here trying to provide the best entertainment. I think that’s the most important thing that we can do.”

Sunday
At Detroit Golf Club
Detroit
Purse: $7,500,000
Yardage: 7,340; Par 72
Individual FedExCup Points in parentheses
Final Round

Bryson DeChambeau (500), $1,350,000 66-67-67-65_265

Matthew Wolff (300), $817,500 69-64-64-71_268

Kevin Kisner (190), $517,500 65-69-70-66_270

Ryan Armour (109), $300,000 69-64-67-72_272

Adam Hadwin (109), $300,000 67-69-69-67_272

Tyrrell Hatton (109), $300,000 68-67-69-68_272

Danny Willett (109), $300,000 71-68-67-66_272

Maverick McNealy (78), $211,875 68-68-71-66_273

Troy Merritt (78), $211,875 68-67-67-71_273

Webb Simpson (78), $211,875 68-64-71-70_273

Sepp Straka (78), $211,875 68-66-72-67_273

Jonathan Byrd (54), $131,875 70-69-67-68_274

Cameron Champ (54), $131,875 69-68-71-66_274

Rickie Fowler (54), $131,875 67-71-69-67_274

Viktor Hovland (54), $131,875 69-67-67-71_274

Mark Hubbard (54), $131,875 67-66-69-72_274

Tom Lewis (54), $131,875 68-71-66-69_274

Henrik Norlander (54), $131,875 67-70-69-68_274

Seamus Power (54), $131,875 67-66-69-72_274

Matt Wallace (54), $131,875 66-69-68-71_274

Lucas Glover (36), $69,042 67-70-71-67_275

Lanto Griffin (36), $69,042 70-66-70-69_275

Hideki Matsuyama (36), $69,042 71-68-65-71_275

Doc Redman (36), $69,042 65-70-70-70_275

Kristoffer Ventura (36), $69,042 69-68-68-70_275

Richy Werenski (36), $69,042 67-66-72-70_275

Wesley Bryan (36), $69,042 69-69-65-72_275

Chris Kirk (36), $69,042 67-65-70-73_275

Luke List (36), $69,042 69-67-67-72_275

Sam Burns (23), $43,042 68-69-69-70_276

Chris Stroud (23), $43,042 66-71-69-70_276

Brian Stuard (23), $43,042 68-67-73-68_276

Hudson Swafford (23), $43,042 67-68-72-69_276

Cameron Tringale (23), $43,042 68-67-72-69_276

Harold Varner III (23), $43,042 70-67-70-69_276

Fabián Gómez (23), $43,042 70-68-66-72_276

Adam Schenk (23), $43,042 68-71-66-71_276

J.J. Spaun (23), $43,042 66-69-70-71_276

Austin Cook (15), $30,375 69-70-72-66_277

Emiliano Grillo (15), $30,375 66-70-71-70_277

Brandon Hagy (15), $30,375 67-68-73-69_277

Scott Harrington (15), $30,375 71-66-67-73_277

George McNeill (15), $30,375 67-71-71-68_277

Scott Stallings (15), $30,375 65-71-70-71_277

Arjun Atwal (9), $21,019 70-69-66-73_278

Chris Baker (9), $21,019 69-68-68-73_278

Keegan Bradley (9), $21,019 69-69-73-67_278

Michael Gellerman (9), $21,019 68-70-68-72_278

Rhein Gibson (9), $21,019 67-72-68-71_278

Kyoung-Hoon Lee (9), $21,019 69-69-72-68_278

Pat Perez (9), $21,019 68-68-70-72_278

Patrick Rodgers (9), $21,019 69-70-69-70_278

Luke Donald (6), $17,738 69-70-69-71_279

Tyler Duncan (6), $17,738 68-70-70-71_279

Tony Finau (6), $17,738 69-70-66-74_279

Sungjae Im (6), $17,738 70-69-70-70_279

Zac Blair (5), $17,025 70-68-69-73_280

Si Woo Kim (5), $17,025 71-67-70-72_280

Seung-Yul Noh (5), $17,025 68-71-70-71_280

Brendon Todd (5), $17,025 68-69-70-73_280

Johnson Wagner (5), $17,025 67-71-70-72_280

Kevin Chappell (5), $16,500 69-69-66-77_281

Josh Teater (5), $16,500 70-69-72-70_281

Mark Anderson (4), $16,200 68-68-73-73_282

Michael Thompson (4), $16,200 69-68-73-72_282

Ted Potter, Jr. (4), $15,975 68-68-69-78_283

Steve Stricker (4), $15,825 70-67-71-76_284

Zack Sucher (3), $15,600 69-69-74-73_285

Bo Van Pelt (3), $15,600 70-69-73-73_285

Harry Higgs (3), $15,375 69-70-78-73_290