TPC Boston, MA ….
When three-time Tour winner Bryson DeChambeau visits the media centre to speak to the golfing media it is never a dull conversation.
Take Wednesday’s conference ahead of this week’s Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston in Norton.
Last week’s brilliant Northern Trust winner first revealed he attended Yankee Stadium on Monday night and was invited to throw the opening pitch in the Yankees game against the visiting White Sox.
DeChambeau was aksed if he was superstitious.
He responded: “At times. I see coincidences, things that happen and recur in weird ways. So every once in a while I do get a little superstitious, but it’s not much. I keep looking at it and I think of it as a couple standard deviations off, it just reoccurs in that way. It just happened to recur that way.
Bryson DewChambeau throws the first pitch on Monday night at Yankee Stadium
“Every road has its end, you know, and so there would be times, it works for me, oh, it didn’t work here in this situation, okay, it doesn’t matter, you know. So it’s unique in that way, I would say. I don’t know if that makes sense to you a little bit. So it will work for a little bit and then it will not work, and that’s when I throw it out.”
His interview turned to whether he had played other sports while growing-up in Modesto, California.
“I played a lot of sports, basketball, volleyball, soccer, I was a goalie at soccer, hand/eye coordination stuff still,” he said.
Bryson DeChambeau with the Northern Trust trophy
“Volleyball I loved. Ping-pong. I loved ping-pong. But I used to practice at lunchtime with a couple of buddies of mine against this little robot. We bought a robot, not kidding, and we got a robot where this thing would shoot out the ball, different velocities, and different spin rates. This is what professionals practice with. We practiced every lunch period for a couple of years. And I got pretty good, needless to say.”
I has spoken to Bryson last week in New Jersey about his knowledge of physics and what he knew, and purely as a follow-up this morning I asked the new FedEx Cup No. 1 what he knew about quantum physics.
Qn: Which quantum physics do you use in golf?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Quantum? It doesn’t really apply. Newtonian mechanics applies. I mean it applies in everything that you do, really. From a body mechanics perspective to a golf club manufacturing perspective.
Q. You are not in quantums yet?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, it doesn’t really apply to golf. Golf is Newtonian.
Q. How about mind and the thought, you have a new science explanation –
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: On the quantum level in the brain regards, I can’t control that stuff yet. Nobody really can. You just measure brain waves and stuff. It’s all Newtonian stuff. You can’t get to a quantum level with anything yet. You’d have to understand how atoms work. I can’t control individual atoms.”
In turning fully to golf, DeChambeau received a congratulatory text message last Sunday from Jim Furky and next Tuesday the USA Ryder Cup captain should be formally reading out his name as one of Furyk’s three Versailles ‘wildcard’ picks.
DeChambeau’s impressive four-shot Northern Trust victory could not have been more-timely in the career of the 24-year old as Furyk ponders his ‘wildcard’ picks.
Furyk will announce three picks at 5pm US Eastern time on 4th September and his fourth and final USA team member shortly after the close of the 23rd September ending Tour Championshp.
DeChambeau had been among the eight set to automatically qualify for Furyk’s team ahead of the PGA Championship but in missing the St. Louis halfway cut, the Florida golfer was passed by Webb Simpson.
Any doubts of DeChambeau’s ability to tackle a first Ryder Cup were by many observers squashed by his superb showing last weekend in New Jersey.
“Jim texted me congratulations, so that was very nice of him, and hopefully I can see him soon,” said DeChambeau.
Should DeChambeau be handed a ‘wildcard’ pick it’s been touted he will be teamed with seven-times Ryder Cup star, Tiger Woods and a player he’s got to know well in the many social rounds they’ve played in Florida.
But then, and as DeChambeau rightfully points out, neither he or Woods are yet in the 2018 USA Team
“Well, first off I’m not in yet but hopefully I get the pick,” he said. “It would be an honour also to play with him (Woods). I think we could have some great chemistry out there and hopefully maybe intimidate some people, that would be nice.
“But nothing is finalized yet. And this week I’m just going to try to play my best so I can get on that team.”
DeChambeau also celebrated a third PGA Tour win in throwing the first pitch last Monday night in the New York Yankees game in hosting the visiting White Sox.
“Well, winning definitely has its perks as I get to throw out the first pitch in the Yankees game, that’s never a bad deal,” he said smiling.
“This is a unique situation for me, I’ve never been to Yankee Stadium before.
“It’s a great learning experience for me. And I’m going to take it in stride and just play this week as another event and execute every shot to the best of my ability.”
