Bryson DeChambeau stuns with incredible Ryder Cup effort as Gary Lineker leads plaudits
express– A monster drive is a guaranteed way to send a crowd into raptures, and that’s exactly what Bryson DeChambeau did at the Ryder Cup on Friday. The controversial American is known for his big-hitting, but no-one expected the 417-yarder he produced on the par-five fifth hole at Whistling Straits.
After being overlooked for the Friday morning foursomes by Team USA captain Steve Stricker, the Texan was given his first taste of action at this year’s Ryder Cup when he was paired up with another long-drive specialist in the form of rookie Scottie Scheffler.
DeChambeau made an inauspicious start, as he pulled his very first tee shot horribly to the left and into the crowd, striking a woman on the ankle.
But he still managed to make birdie on that next hole, and produced some stunning shots across the rest of the round to help keep an in-form Jon Rahm and partner Tyrrell Hatton at bay.
None were more impressive than that drive on the fifth, which incredibly left him only 72 yards from the par-five green and 202 yards closer to the pin than playing partner Scheffler.
DeChambeau’s incredible power and distance allowed him to hit over the water hazard and long grass and reach the fairway on the far side, while Scheffler had opted for the safe option of playing around the pond.
The 28-year-old, who is currently training for the long drive world championship, made the most of his huge effort to sink his eagle putt.
As if that wasn’t enough of a demonstration of his power from the tee box, DeChambeau went over 390 yards again on the 13th hole, much to the delight of the fans he was conducting at times on Friday.
Plenty of people were quick to marvel over his long drive skills on social media, where one Twitter used pointed out the drive was as long as the Empire State Building is tall.
Gary Lineker led the plaudits, saying: “Love him or loathe him, Bryson DeChambeau is great for golf.”
Another said: “You’ve gotta admire how Bryson DeChambeau is all angles/science/numbers and then just woke up one day and said ‘I’m gonna get massive so I f***ing leather it really far’.”
DeChambeau barely put a foot wrong as he and Scheffler negotiated their way through a tricky match against Rahm and Hatton.
The European pair kept pegging the Americans back whenever they got a lead but they stayed in control of the clash throughout.
In this sort of form, DeChambeau will be a potent weapon for Steve Stricker to use over the course of the weekend.
