Bryson DeChambeau, currently gearing up for the Saudi International kick-off on February 4, made headlines overnight as the R&A and United States Golf Association (USGA) announced proposals to limit driver lengths to 46 inches.
But DeChambeau, who famously experimented with a 48-inch staff, isn’t as bothered by the news as some outlets would like to think.
“It’s funny, I’m sure there’s a lot of excitement about me having a potentially controversial thought on it, but I don’t,” said DeChambeau, who spent most of a press conference on Wednesday fielding questions about the news.
“It’s a little flattering, in a sense, because I did talk about that 48-inch driver for so long, and it just didn’t work for me the way I wanted it to … I think it’s really cool to see that there’s some change off of the conversations I’ve had,” said DeChambeau.
“I think I might be pushing them a little bit. I don’t know if anybody’s really pushed them like [this]. And I’m not really trying to push,” he admitted.
“I welcome it as long as they don’t change the human element. I’m gonna play with whatever they give me. I’m not worried it. I’m going to do whatever they say is legal,” he added.
DeChambeau also took it upon himself to reach out to the USGA’s John Bodenhammer and Jason Gore as soon as the news broke.
“I totally understand what they’re about,” he said.
“When it comes to the equipment aspect, they’re trying to make it more of a, I guess you could say, same or fair playing field, where you can’t just put a 48-inch driver and it works for this person — you gain six, seven miles an hour — where somebody [else] couldn’t, because the driver just doesn’t work for them, or whatever.”
He added: “From my perspective, I think it suits me really well, because as of right now, I’m still playing the 45 and a half inch driver, and it’s suiting me perfectly well.”
As he gets ready for the Saudi International, which runs until February 7, DeChambeau is all praise for the country’s efforts to grow the game of golf.
“It’s an honour to be here. I’m always about growing the game and I think this is a great opportunity to do it,” he said.
“It’s only going to continue to keep growing. I love the vision they have and what they’re about for the game of golf.
“The golf course itself is in great condition. The greens are in immaculate shape. I love them. They’ve tightened it up in certain areas from when I was here a couple of years ago,” he added.
DeChambeau said he plans to keep the same game plan he had at the US Open 2020, which was his first major championship win.
However, DeChambeau had a far rougher time at the 2020 Masters, where he was hit by various worrying symptoms of unidentified illness.
It was only a week and a half ago that he finally got some answers — and an oxygen machine.
“I did an MRI, an MRA, an ultrasound on the arteries going up in the neck; I did an ultrasound of my heart; I went to an ear, nose and throat doctor; I saw an eye doctor. The tests came back completely normal. There was nothing weird about it,” he recalled.
“The last [thing] I tested was oxygen levels, and that actually was a little more profound. What we believe was happening was that I wasn’t utilising enough oxygen when it came into my system.
“I was actually breathing out oxygen — like a lot of oxygen. I was storing a lot of carbon dioxide in my system. That usually constricts the blood vessels and makes you feel really lightheaded, dizzy and gives you an upset stomach.
“That’s why some of the stuff was going off in, like I said [in previous interviews], the frontal lobe — and everybody had a laugh about that. But it does effect the brain, how much oxygen you breathe in,” he added.
Going forward, does a health care like this put things into perspective for the player?
“I figured it out about a week-and-a-half ago. I got an oxygen machine. I’ve been working on controlling my breathing every single night before I go to bed, and in the morning when I wake up — that’s usually when I feel it the most,” said DeChambeau.
“It doesn’t scare me at all, since I know what’s going on. But I’ll continually monitor it. I’m 27, I’m not old or anything, by any means. But as time goes on, you just want to keep monitoring yourself to make sure you’re the healthiest you can be. And that’s what I’ll keep doing.”
