ORLANDO, Fla. – Bryson DeChambeau has taken the opportunity to try to hit the green on the Bay Hill Club’s sixth hole, par-5, celebrating it as if he had on Saturday’s third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
DeChambeau’s drive, which cut through a huge lake, ended 50 yards to the right of the green, but traveled 370 yards and rolled through the fairway and into the rough. The hole measures 555 yards and no player in the field has hit their tee shots that close to the green.
He ended up hitting a wedge shot from the rough to the front of the green and then two pits for an easy bird from about 10 yards.
“I definitely felt like a kid again. It was exciting,” DeChambeau said after a 68 left him a shot on 54-hole leader Lee Westwood. “Especially when you get it done. It was almost like winning a tournament. I got the same chills and the same feeling when I saw it clearly and there were no splashes. I gave the fans what they wanted.”
DeChambeau, the reigning US Open champion whose well-known eating and fitness regimen over the past 18 months has seen him put on muscle and over 40 pounds, has emerged as the PGA Tour’s lead driver. Last year he led with an average of more than 322 meters per ride.
To hit the green from the tee on Saturday, DeChambeau said he would have had to carry his drive 335 yards, which he did. He shrank from going straight onto the green because of the wind conditions.
DeChambeau made a number of attempts during Wednesday’s pro-am that fell short due to the wind. That prompted him to take a more conservative route during the first two laps, provoking a playful boos. He has poultry the hole in two of the three rounds.
The encouragement from the spectators seated behind the tee spurred DeChambeau, he said.
“For the most part, that’s an opportunity that I know I can do and I have been able to achieve that,” he said. “I would have done it without the fans, but the fans definitely kept up with me a bit and they did. Nice to give them what they wanted.”