Eddie Pepperell On Bryson: “I Don’t Have Anything But Respect”
Golf Monthly Columnist Eddie Pepperell admires how Bryson DeChambeau's hard work has paid off
I must admit I’ve found the whole beefed-up Bryson DeChambeau saga fairly entertaining.
The transformation has been amazing to witness. He’s identified an area in which to gain a competitive advantage and worked really hard to get there, so I don’t have anything but respect for what he’s done.
However, I know it’s prompted further debate about hitting distances and so forth, with Colin Montgomerie coming out in favour of a tournament ball for professionals.
As far as I see it, though, if you were to roll the ball back, he would gain an even bigger advantage. It’s less problematic going from hitting a wedge to an 8-iron than an 8-iron to a 6-iron.
He’s still going to be hitting the ball further than guys like me, and if it gets rolled back, I’ll just be hitting longer irons into greens. I think it’s much harder to get the ball closer with a 6-iron than it is with an 8-iron.
Either way, he’s going to be rewarded for what he’s done, so I don’t think he’ll be overly concerned.
At this point, he is making some courses pretty redundant, which is probably quite alarming for the governing bodies – they might well have to do something about it.
But in terms of an advantage over the rest of the field, I think he’s always going to have that now because of the work he’s put in.
Having said that, it’s been quite an extreme transformation and as we all know things don’t go in straight lines, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens if he does encounter a dip in form.
Regardless, I’ve always felt Bryson is good for golf because of how different he is. He’s revolutionary and you should never criticise people like that.
Of course, he’s had his moments with slow play and a couple of comments that probably haven’t painted him in a great light, but I don’t think he worries too much about that.
He’s very much his own man and, as a fellow sportsman, I appreciate that. He’s unique and there aren’t many people willing to take the risk he’s taken. I’ve got nothing but admiration for him.
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