BIG Beefy Bryson DeChambeau held on to defeat Lee Westwood by one stroke at the Arnold Palmer Invitational just a few days ago. DeChambeau used his newfound brute strength to finish at 11 strokes under par and take home a cool 1.67 million bucks in the process. Can DeChambeau continue his winning ways this week at The Players Championship and capture yet another prestigious trophy?
A Closer Look at Bryson’s Arnold Palmer Invitational Victory
DeChambeau’s first round at Bay Hill was indeed his best round of the entire week. The California native posted a 67 for his round one score which was good enough for 5 strokes under par. This low first round score let the PGA world know that DeChambeau would be in contention all week long.
DeChambeau struggled a bit in round two due to errant tee shots that went a long ways but not exactly straight. Nevertheless, the 6-1 245 pound long hitter displayed an impressive ability to get out of an extremely thick rough on his way to shooting a respectable 71 (-1) during Friday’s second round.
The conditions improved a bit at Bay Hill during Saturday’s third round. This enabled DeChambeau to post his second best score of the tournament by shooting a 68 (-4). This solid round of golf got DeChambeau to within one shot of the 54-hole leader, Lee Westwood.
Firm and fast greens made it immensely tough to score well during Sunday’s final round. In fact, “Arnie’s house” played tougher than it has in over 30 years (The Athletic). DeChambeau is no stranger to winning in tough conditions. After all, he captured his first career Major tournament win last September at the U.S. Open when Winged Foot was offering up a whole host of difficult challenges.
The biggest key to DeChambeau’s Arnold Palmer win was his hot, reliable putter. He was able to save par during critical moments and even drain some really long putts for good measure. DeChambeau was still wild off the tee at times as he missed 8 of 14 fairways. However, DeChambeau always seemed to pull off the perfect iron shot out of the tall grass at the most crucial times.
How will DeChambeau do at The Players Championship?
The next stop on the PGA Tour’s vaunted “Florida Swing” is The Players Championship which starts on March 11th. DeChambeau has only played TPC Sawgrass on two occasions and his best ever finish is 20th place back in 2019. Even with this lack of success at this particular event, DeChambeau is still listed as one of the betting favorites to win The Players Championship this weekend (Baltimore Sun).
How will DeChambeau do this weekend? Can the “Mad Scientist” post back-to-back victories and stay at the top of the FedEx Cup Standings? Golf fans will have to wait a few days to find these questions out. One thing is for certain. Bryson DeChambeau will always be entertaining to watch with his insane 360 yard drives off the tee!
