69around the machine that day, and insisted they build
a new model that could account for differences in air
density and other atmospheric factors. Thus the new
X3 model was born, and the proprietary information
is so enlightening that one of DeChambeau’s pals
immediately spent his own money to obtain one: Bubba
Watson, a celebrated caveman
golfer who under the thrall of
Bryson has suddenly become more
intellectually curious.
Now, before every competitive
swing, DeChambeau and his
caddie run through a protocol
to estimate the air temperature,
barometric pressure, temperature
of the ball, moisture level of the
ground, the firmness of the green,
the slope of the lie and the angle
of descent of the ball based on the
shot shape they’re considering.
(Crusaders against slow play will
not be pleased to hear this.) And
yet all of this data is not enough for DeChambeau. The
other day he woke Johnson with a call, asking if he could
theorize how far his sand wedge would fly for every
minute of a prototypical day, based on a model of ever-
changing air conditions. Johnson, who has a Masters
degree in electrical engineering and has designed sonar
defense systems in his native South Africa, crunched
all the data and sent DeChambeau a mathematical
formula. He spent the ensuing days hitting his wedge
more or less around the clock and then called Johnson
to let him know the numbers checked out. “He’s a very
unusual character,” Johnson says, redundantly. “He
has a level of focus—some might call it obsession—
that you can’t compare to any other golfer. Maybe not
any other athlete, except the climber in Free Solo.”
DeChambeau has heard all the nutty-professor
jokes—and has even incorporated them into various
TV commercials—but he insists it is not shtick. “It’s
funny, I hear people say I’m faking all this science
stuff. That’s the furthest thing from the truth,” he says. “It’s literally
what I have to do to play and perform at this level. I have so much
respect for all these other guys who are able to play at a high level,
week in and week out, without all this information. That doesn’t
work for me. The search for information gives me more confidence,
because confidence arises from understanding. If people knew the
whole journey, the struggles I’ve been through to figure out all this
stuff, I think they would gain a little bit more respect for me, rather
than disdain.”
DeChambeau is so used to being an outsider he doesn’t realize
that the respect is already there. “He’s a breath of fresh air,” says Pat
Perez, a quintessential feel player. “It’s good for the game because
he’s showing there is room for all kinds of players to succeed. Heof his swing that when a shot goes awry he instinctively looks for an
outside agency. He plays many practice rounds with Tiger Woods, a
fellow golf nerd always seeking an edge. During a tuneup round this
year at Riviera, DeChambeau crunched all the numbers on the tee of
the par-3 14th hole and then flushed a 7-iron that came up a full club
short. Woods, who made his Tour debut on the course more a quarter
century ago, smoothed a 6-iron to pin-high. He then explained to
DeChambeau that because Riviera sits at the bottom of a canyon
near the Pacific, the air somehow plays heavier than other sea-level
courses. DeChambeau is the only guy on Tour who records every
practice-round shot on a launch monitor. “With Bryson, there are a
lot of firsts,” says Schomin. Hearing Woods’s analysis, DeChambeau
turned to Flightscope founder Henri Johnson, who was lugging
“IT’S FUNNY,
I HEAR PEOPLE
SAY I’M FAKING ALL
THIS SCIENCE STUFF,
[BUT] IT’S
LITERALLY WHAT
I HAVE TO DO
TO PERFORM AT
THIS LEVEL.”