WATCH: Kyle Berkshire breaks world record for longest golf drive – again
Triple World long drive champion Kyle Berkshire has done it again with another monster shot.
Berkshire was the big favourite as the 2023 World Long Drive Championship approached and he would lay down a marker before the event even got underway.
He hit a drive that generated the fastest ball speed ever recorded off of a golf drive when he was clocked at 241.6 mph.
However, Berkshire would surprise even himself with a phenomenal strike that he pulled off with a feat of strength at the Rochelle Ranch Golf Course in Rawlins, Wyoming. Berkshire struck the ball 579.63 yards to be exact to shatter the previous mark.
Berkshire was benefiting from a few favourable circumstances. He was 6,700 feet above sea level, to start. He also had a 22 mph tailwind at his back for the monster hit. However, 579 yards with 512 yards of carry has to be ranked among the most ridiculous things in golf.
After that display, it is no surprise that Berkshire took his third Long Drive World Championship.
After the monster bombs he dropped in the lead-up to the tournament, it may come as a surprise that his win came by just one yard in the end.
In the final, Berkshire’s best performance of 398 yards was sufficient to win by just a single yard against Sean Johnson. Furthermore, he advanced past Justin James in the quarterfinals thanks to a 432-yard poke that came off of his sixth and last effort, which just barely stayed inside the competition grid.
“I knew I just needed a couple of tiny things to go my way and I’d be right there,” Berkshire said.
After a season in which he unexpectedly failed to win any official competitions while breaking new world records for the longest drive and the fastest ball speed, Berkshire’s victory stood out as noteworthy.
“When you lose that feeling and that kind of mojo, when you get it back it’s much more sweet,” Berkshire said.
Berkshire joins long-drive superstars Jason Zuback and Sean Fister as the only athletes to have won the event at least three times.
“I respect those guys beyond measure and to even be close to being mentioned in the same air as them, it’s pretty humbling for me,” Berkshire said. “I’m just going to keep my head down, keep training, keep taking care of my body and just keep taking swings. Hopefully, I’m around for another 15-plus years and I can rack up another couple more.”
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