Bryson DeChambeau drew upon new ‘arsenal’ in his bag to produce an equal career low of an eight-under par 63 for a one-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the WGC – Mexico Championship.
The affable American was one-under for his round standing on the 18th hole tee and the ninth of his round before brilliantly managing to birdie his next four holes before grabbing three birdies in succession from his 14th.
DeChambeau’s nine birdie haul is the most in his short professional career since a similar number of birdies on day four of last year’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
His score of 63 superbly ties the second-lowest round of his PGA Tour while DeChambeau’s 36-hole tally ties the lowest two-round tally on the Club de Golf Chapultepec first set by India’s Shubhankar Sharma (2018) and Dustin Johnson (2019).
“I just threw my hands up in the air … who thinks I’m going to make this one?!” pic.twitter.com/gESz3u6RZ5
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 21, 2020
And after an eighth place result in the defence of his Omega Dubai Desert Classic crown the 26-year old Californian revealed there’s a good reason why he’s been putting so good this week in the world’s eighth highest capital city.
“I was awesome out there today and I am starting to play some good golf as I am starting to strike it well and also putt well,” he said.
“I made a lot of putts and I am not used to that, so it’s always a pleasure for me to do that.”
Indeed, DeChambeau needed just 27 putts on day two but what was impressive over the opening two rounds is that he has missed just one putt of 32 putts from inside 15-feet.
“I am using this thing called ‘Laser Focus’ that is a putting device that allows me to see the shot line of my putt really easily,” he said.
“It has made me feel more comfortable in stroking the putt in relation to the chalk line. So, I’m just doing that while my speed control has been great this week, and I hope I can keep it up.
“We’ve also got some stuff working this year that I didn’t have last year and so a couple of new tools in the bag completed the arsenal so I’m hitting it well, putting it well and that combo leads to where it’s at.”
DeChambeau last held the 36-hole outright lead at the 2019 Safeway Open where he finished T13 while he finished T56 (2019) in his lone prior appearance at the WGC-Mexico Championship.
His best finish in five career World Golf Championships starts is a 30th at the 2018 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
Friday was the first time in a WGC stroke-play event where four players made nine or more birdies in a round (Bryson DeChambeau, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed & Erik van Rooyen)
In the bigger tournament picture, seven countries are represented inside the top 10 through two rounds.
