A handsome young man in a dapper Ben Hogan-era golf cap charged down the stretch to birdie the final two holes and claim his first PGA tournament victory Sunday at the John Deere Classic. Not that Bryson DeChambeau is your average 23-year old golfer, though.
In addition to his nifty Puma golf cap, DeChambeau also sports his own unique set of irons which are all exactly the same length as his 7-iron (37.5 inches). He believes that having the clubs all of a similar length (instead of the traditionally shorter shafts for wedges and 9-irons and longer ones though the 3-iron, for example) will allow him to swing every club the same way. His golf swing with each of his irons is very upright and looks the same no matter what club he has chosen to hit. It’s a physics thing, you know.
And, yes, he DOES know the physics involved! Bryson DeChambeau was a Physics major at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. In June, 2015, DeChambeau won SMU’s first individual NCAA men’s title and then went on to grab the US Amateur Championship a few months later in August to become only the fifth golfer to win both events during the same year. He has some pretty good company, too. DeChambeau joined Jack Nicklaus (1961), Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1996), and Ryan Moore (2004).
Bryson DeChambeau credits a book by Homer Kelley called “The Golfing Machine” with inspiring his non-traditional attitude toward his golf swing and uniform-length golf clubs. The 1969 book is based on scientific principles covering physics and geometry. Based on DeChambeau’s natural inclination toward math and science, it’s a little easier to see how he may have liked something which attempted to make golf more analytical.
The PGA tour players have now dubbed Bryson DeChambeau “The Mad Scientist” for his unusual analytical approach to the game. He doesn’t appear to mind.
“People think it’s weird and funky, but I think it’s one of the most consistent swings out here. There’s not many moving parts. One of my bigger goals is to help the game itself and bring more people in through these new ways of playing.”
According to Newton’s First Law of Physics, an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. This is also considered to be the law of inertia.
With his first PGA win in hand and, as a bonus, earning his first trip to the British Open this week, the unique golfing “force” named Bryson DeChambeau is now officially in motion. And you know that it is hard to bring an object back to rest again once it gets rolling. Momentum is now on his side!