Padraig Harrington: Bryson DeChambeau has stolen the glory and the thunder

Padraig Harrington says Bryson DeChambeau’s successful power game is going to shape the future of golf.
The beefy American – who put on 15kg of muscle during the pandemic enforced PGA Tour break – obliterated his way around Winged Foot this past weekend to pick up his maiden major title at the 120th US Open.
Harrington shared a story of DeChambeau on the range at the 2019 Open Championship, where he was blown away by his ball speed.
“At The Open last year we were on the range, three of us,” recollected the Irishman.
“There was a young lad from Austria, a skinny lad, ‘tonking’ out there with a 192mph ball speed and he told DeChambeau to have a go. And Dechambeau, straight out of it, 189mph ball speed in three goes, so he’s always had the speed.
“It’s very impressive because the bulk has probably helped him to stabilise it. With Bryson, it’s very impressive to go full tilt on the golf course.”
Harrington added that it was a young Tiger Woods that seemingly started the trend that further is better, a trend that Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson soon followed. But now, all those names are far behind DeChambeua on the PGA Tour’s average driving distance. DeChambeau was sitting pretty on top with a 322.1 yard average for the last season and now he has a major to show for it.
“When it comes down to it, it’s going to be dime a dozen in five years time, ten years time,” continued Harrington.
“I was brought up in an era that if you hit it a long way, if you had speed, it was considered a fault that needed to be coached out of you. Every time a long-hitter missed a fairway it was because he hit driver, it was wrong.
“The writing was on the wall with Tiger and certainly Rory when he came out and DJ… you know, long-hitting was a huge part of the game.
“But Bryson has stolen the glory and thunder with that and it will be coached into players and certainly not coached out going forward.”
Latest
-
News
Harry Hall bounces back from double blow to keep share of lead
Cornish rookie heads into final round tied at the top with American Adam Schenk.
-
News
Harry Hall opens three-stroke halfway lead at Charles Schwab Challenge
The Cornish rookie is chasing his first PGA Tour win after opening round of 62.
-
PGA Tour
England’s Harry Hall takes three-shot lead in Texas with career-best outing
He picked up eight birdies without dropping a shot and managed to save par from 15 and 30 feet.
-
Ryder Cup
Victor Perez to defend KLM Open title in race for Ryder Cup place
Perez has moved into the automatic qualifying places for the European Ryder Cup team.
-
PGA Championship
Michael Block in no rush to return to reality any time soon after US PGA heroics
Block almost stole the show from winner Brooks Koepka at Oak Hill, making a hole-in-one during the final round.
-
US Open
Tiger Woods withdraws from next month’s US Open
Woods pulled out of the Masters during the third round in April, saying at the time it was due to plantar fasciitis.
-
Ryder Cup
Brooks Koepka makes Ryder Cup statement with US PGA Championship success
LIV Golf’s Koepka moved up to second in the US Ryder cup rankings.
-
PGA Championship
Rory McIlroy proud of gritty effort at US PGA Championship
The 34-year-old followed an opening 71 with three straight 69s to finish two under par, seven shots behind winner Brooks Koepka.
-
PGA Championship
Club professional Michael Block relishing life-changing week at Oak Hill
The 46-year-old’s display captured the imagination of the spectators.
-
PGA Championship
Fifth major is the most meaningful, says US PGA champion Brooks Koepka
Koepka held off the challenge of Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler to claim a third US PGA title.