Abu Dhabi: ‘The new Tiger Woods? Remember the name: Bryson DeChambeau’ was the auspicious headline on the website eurosport.co.uk earlier this month in a glowing eulogy to the 2015 US Amateur champion.
But for most casual golf observers, the exotically named 22-year-old would have been as familiar as last year’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship winner, the unheralded Frenchman Gary Stal – until Thursday.
For DeChambeau produced a quite magnificent eight-under-par 64 on the opening day of the 2016 Abu Dhabi Golf Club showpiece to lead by a shot from the world number five Henrik Stenson.
The American amateur also stole the show from the supposed headline acts in the UAE capital, the world number one Jordan Spieth (68) and the four-time major winner Rory McIlroy (66), who lies third.
“It was quite incredible.” DeChambeau said of the barnstorming beginning to his first European Tour event and only his seventh in the professional ranks.
The Californian recorded just four pars in an opening nine of 32 and two-putted for birdie at the last for a score just two shots worse than Stenson’s 2006 course record of 10-under-par 62.
He also rolled in a superb 20-footer for an eagle at the eighth.
“I just went out there and hit as many fairways and as many greens as possible. Having no expectations, it allows me to do my best and that’s what I did today,” DeChambeau said.
Aside from his name and the fact that he sports a retro-style flat cap, DeChambeau evokes curiosity by virtue of his “different” philosophy in terms of his golf clubs.
“They are all single length, the same length, the same lie angle, same shaft,” he explained. “They have different loft but the same bounce configuration on each and every one of them.”
The self-anointed ‘golfing scientist’ said the idea for this had come from the Golfing Machine, an instruction system which relies on geometry and everyday physics to help instructors analyse and improve their students’ strokes.
“I said to myself, ‘why do they [my clubs] have to be different lengths?’ because I would go to a wedge and then would go to a three-iron and I couldn’t swing on the same plane.”
In another quirk, the eccentric DeChambeau also puts his balls in Epsom salts to establish which of them are slightly flawed.
The American rookie said that he had no expectations for the rest of the tournament, adding: “I’m always learning. If I don’t play well, I’ll learn. If I do play well, I’ll still learn.”
Meanwhile, second-place Stenson birdied five of his last eight holes in his first round since keyhole surgery on his right knee in December.
“That’s the best start I’ve had here in years, possibly ever,” the two-time runner-up said of his seven-under-par 65.
The 39-year-old added that recovering from his knee operation had been “a big challenge” after struggling to walk the course.
He said that proving that he can compete in the exalted company of Spieth and McIlroy was “great motivation”, however.
“I’m going to just try and prepare well for the season and do everything I can to keep the youngsters at bay,” Stenson said.
Leading first-round scores in the $2.7million Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at the par-72 National course of Abu Dhabi Golf Club on Thursday:
64 - Bryson DeChambeau (USA)
65 - Henrik Stenson (SWE)
66 - Rory McIlroy (NIR), Branden Grace (RSA)
67 - Richard Bland (ENG), Andy Sullivan (ENG)
68 - Jordan Spieth (USA), David Howell (ENG), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Niclas Fasth (SWE)
69 - Martin Kaymer (GER), Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Mikko Korhonen (FIN), Byeong-hun An (KOR), Wade Ormsby (AUS), Renato Paratore (ITA), Simon Dyson (ENG), Wu Ashun (PRC), Johan Carlsson (SWE), Peter Hanson (SWE), Trevor Fisher Jr (RSA), Daniel Brooks (ENG), Joost Luiten (NED), Thomas Pieters (BEL), George Coetzee (RSA), Matthew Baldwin (ENG), Pelle Edberg (SWE)
70 - Rickie Fowler (USA), Andrew Johnston (ENG), Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Robert Rock (ENG), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Andrew Dodt (AUS), Ben Evans (ENG), Russell Knox (SCO), Alexander Levy (FRA), Ian Poulter (ENG), Ross Fisher (ENG), Victor Dubuisson (FRA), Scott Jamieson (SCO), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Fabrizio Zannotti (PAR)
Selected
71 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA),
73 - Ernie Els (RSA), Darren Clarke (NIR), Lee Westwood (ENG), Hadyn Porteous (RSA), Brandon Stone (RSA),
74 - Trevor Immelman (RSA)
