Masters Thursday: New-look Bryson DeChambeau is back in our lives | Golf Channel Podcast

In this edition, the guys discuss what’s different this time about Bryson DeChambeau, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler’s inevitable start at Augusta and Tiger Woods’ march toward Masters history. #GolfChannelPodcast #GolfChannel #themasters #brysondechambeau

Chapters
00:00: How the Thursday delay affects the next few days
01:30: We missed Bryson DeChambeau
04:00: What’s different about this version of Bryson
10:00: Looking at his Augusta history, is Bryson’s start sustainable?
13:00: Nothing stands out about Scottie Scheffler’s 66 – and that’s the point
16:30: Rory McIlroy doesn’t shoot himself out of Masters contention on Thursday
19:00: What to watch for Friday: a potentially historic cut-made for Tiger Woods

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Masters Thursday: New-look Bryson DeChambeau is back in our lives | Golf Channel Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/golfchannel?sub_confirmation=1

hello and welcome to this edition of the
golf Chann podcast with Rex and lav well
Storm that we predicted in the big
Masters preview Edition did indeed come
but it also fizzled out a little bit
earlier than anticipated just I say just
just a two and a half hour delay to
start this 88th Masters what that means
is that the opening round of the Masters
uh was not completed on Thursday it does
seem unlikely that the 36 old cut will
be made on Friday evening however for
those of you who are optimists the rest
of the weather forecast for the
remainder of the Masters looks fantastic
uh windy conditions again on Friday up
at 72 degrees in sunny and the weekend
should be beautiful highs in the mid to
Upper 70s to low 80s we did have some
incredible scoring I actually thought
Rex considering the conditions Bryson to
Shambo we missed J Bryson 7 under 65 is
leading this Masters by a single shot
over you guessed it world number one
Scotty Sheffer Mr inevitable who comes
in with a bogey free 66 with all that
said Rex what was your biggest takeaway
from this day one of the Masters uh you
touched it we miss Bryson we all miss
Bryson and look we’re gonna get push
back on that people are going to add us
actually I think uh there was a tour
rules official I mean tour tour media
official who pushed back on the idea and
Jack all I have to say is if you don’t
understand how Bryson was just a Content
fountain that that every time he showed
up at an event there was something that
was exactly I was just we were all going
to eat we were all going to Feast it
doesn’t matter if you carry a notebook
or a microphone it doesn’t matter if you
talk for a living or write for a living
He was going to give you something to
talk or write about and that’s what he
did today now that said the column I
wrote for nbcsports.com golf is that
this is a different version of Bryson
this seems to be a more mature version
version of Bryson he’s 30 years old now
he’s the captain of a team on live golf
it seems to me he’s got things going on
in his life that probably have dialed
down that that fire to want to reinvent
the game this is the guy who once said
of Augusta National it was a par 67
completely walked that back today said I
I make mistakes in my life and that’s
one of them I I am fascinated by
watching him on the golf course today it
was the Bryson of the guy who swings
really really hard and takes chances and
and then says kind of silly things after
the fact one of them being I think he
clipped a tree on 15 and he was asking
about the shot and his response was yes
it it braised up against four pine
needles instead of five but he smiled he
smile he understood he he got the joke
he was in on the joke this time normally
he he wasn’t in on the joke when he was
at his content best he was never in on
the joke so certainly from what we’ve
wanted and we’ve talked about this for a
long time couldn’t wait to get to the
majors couldn’t wait to get to the
Masters because you get all the top
players together including the Bryson
dambos and I don’t want to say the
villains but I think probably the
protagonist is kind of the line I went
with in my column because I think that’s
probably a fair uh description of what
they are this is what we’ve missed it is
absolutely what we miss and Bryson does
seem to be Rex in a different head space
than he was a couple years ago I mean
Bryson was the biggest show in town in
2020 when he reinvented himself when he
packed in all that muscle he packed in
all that weight he was bashing drives he
was clearing the clearing the lake at
Bay Hill on number six he was winning
major championships in dominant fashion
it seemed to be kind of Reinventing the
game and I you know a lot of a lot of
folks when you think about fall 2020
spring 2021 like they they thought
Bryson was was going to completely
overhaul the game that he was going to
start dominating major championships
collect two three four five six in short
succession that is not necessarily
happened he he does seem to be I would
say in a in a healthier head space now I
I’m not sure that he is built to be the
center of attention and that sounds good
in theory that you know you’re the
biggest show in town the star attraction
all the fans want to see you but he did
a a a very poor job I would say in his
late tour career of kind of insulating
himself from some of the the the
criticisms or the
controversies that would come his way
and he is still I would say a a
polarizing figure in the game I would
still say he is a a a divisive figure in
the game but but I’m with you he did
seem more mature he’s 30 now he EXs
patience and and I asked him it did not
get a elicit a very good answer but I
said he has gone through these different
phases in his career you know I covered
him when he was a junior and an amateur
golfer he was kind of the weird mad
scientist who was uh he was he was
floating EP golf balls and Epson Sals to
see which one would float and doing all
sorts of weird things his golf swing
sort of that mad scientist phase then he
transformed as we just talked about kind
of the bulky Basher phase and now it
does seem Rex like he’s getting back to
I would say his roots I mean Bryson D
shamble has always been a spectacular
golfer that’s overlooked with some of
the cartoonish elements and and the big
drives and some of the theatrics off the
golf course and all this content
creation stuff I mean he has been a
terrific golfer for a long time with a
very special set of skills particular
with his putting and particularly with
sort of metronomic uh ball striking this
version I think Rex is a more powerful
version of the golfer that we saw in
2018 when he won a couple of times when
he got to the number five player in the
world like if you look at his results
over the past year they’re quite good
obviously he challenged at oakill at the
PJ Championship but he has been playing
well on live shot that 58 uh last summer
at the Green Brier and has several top
finishes as well he’s fourth in Strokes
gained un live this season and so I I
I’m kind of buying this version Kinder
gentler more humble uh
less it’s not he’s he’s he’s
entertaining but it’s not in sort of the
silly um attention seeking way I would
say that he was known for two or three
years ago this is that 7030 split we
talked about on live from today it’s D
yeah this is what we’re talking about it
it always seems to go your way on the
7030 split I I do think it’s funny and
to your point he did not like your
analogy about I think you referred to
him as you’ve gone from the mad
scientist to Bulky or
brw scientist the bulky Basher he did
not like any of your alliteration he
didn’t he want to play along asked him
what phase he’s in now and he said just
trying to be the best golfer he’s in
that he’s in the golf phase which to me
you know it it was it was a it was a
shorter answer that he’d given but to me
that means he just wants to get back to
golf that this is his passion this is
what he loves to do
he loves to compete and kind of going
back to his roots and just and and
leaving behind all the dramas that have
consumed him over the past three or four
years that’s kind of how I read his
answer yeah this goes back to 2016 when
he he actually that was his best finish
year finished tied for 21st at the
Masters he was an amateur that was his
first Master Masters and I I think even
starting then and I remember making the
trip over to Hilton Head after the
Masters and talking with him I think on
Tuesday over at Harbortown just about
the idea of all these things that sort
of resonated around him back then
wanting to reinvent the game and and
wanting to be more than just a
professional golfer even a successful
professional golfer the on length clubs
the the whole idea of the way he plays
the game is the better way for everybody
to play the game and you were I was
taken by the idea that this is a really
young kid and he has a lot of ideas and
he feels like there’s only one answer to
every question the way I qued in my
column today is I think he’s come to
understand that two things can be true
that you can play the game this way and
it might be right for you it’s not
necessarily right for me I I immediately
went to and I have to say this is this
this was kind of something I had to
think a little bit about but for the
column I was getting into the idea that
this is a mature Bryson this is someone
like I said he’s 30 years old I think
he’s more comfortable in his own skin
than he was before and I wanted to get
an idea from those around him well the
people around him now or on his team on
live golf The Crushers and I called Paul
Casey and no one was more surprised I
was calling Paul Casey to talk about
Golf and his captain than Paul Casey CU
he’s like you never call me to talk
about golf anymore and I said I
understand we’re not going to do
politics we’re not going to do lip Golf
and he he gave me some really good
anecdotes I’m gonna use them tonight on
live from one of them was he said
earlier this year Bryson got the team
together and it’s it’s anaban liri it’s
it’s Charles how it’s and it’s Paul
Casey and he wanted to sit them down and
give them sort of a snapshot lesson on
why it’s better to putt with uh east
west equator on your golf ball the
dimples is what he was talking about
instead of a North South Equator this is
a true story and Paul said everybody in
the room all three players gave him
nothing but eye rolls the point of this
story is Bryson immediately picked up on
it like he wasn’t oblivious like
suddenly all of those social clues that
seemed to escape him Escape him before
suddenly came pouring out and he was
like oh okay never mind I’m sorry forget
about it and then Paul brought up a
couple weeks ago when they were in Hong
Kong team won he said it was cold he
goes they have scripting and Bryson
really likes to have the scripting right
he wants the team to all look the same
understandably so because it was cold
and wet everybody was wearing something
different and even Paul said I was
amazed that whatever that side of
Bryson’s brain that probably would have
clicked off and probably would have made
his eye start to Twitch a lot like the
logo on the Augusta National bottle this
week that has has you sideways it didn’t
and I just think those are just really
good examples of how this guy who was so
singularly focused and kind of myopic
some of the things he did has matured
and become a more complete player and
person the question of course is whether
this is sustainable we saw back in 2019
Bryson n Shambo opened up with a share
of the first round lead shot 66 followed
it up with a round of 75 and ultimately
finished in a tie for 29th other than
that it has not gone Bryson’s way
despite him proclaiming the gusa
national at one point could be
considered a par 67 for him as you
mentioned his best finish is a tie for
21st do you believe in Bryson do you
believe that this will be a four-day
story or was it great to enjoy him uh
and kind of project what could be for
the rest of 2024 and that it’ll just
kind of return to the norm and that
Augustin Ash will continue to beule him
no I I think this will be a four day
story he’s not gonna I don’t believe
he’s going to shoot 65 for four days and
I believe at some point he does come
back to the pack like what we see on the
leaderboard now and they’re not going to
finish up the round today they’re
probably not going to make the cut as
you pointed out on Friday what I the
reason I think that beyond what we just
talked about being more mature being
more at ease being more comfortable in
his own skin is his game to go to what
you talked about today there were no
flaws in his game if you look at
statistically he was either in the lead
or in the top five in every major
statistical category it wasn’t like he
was doing just one thing well today he
was driving the ball well he led the
field and driving distance which is no
huge surprise but he also led the field
in putting and he was second or third in
Greens and regulations in sand saves he
was two for two I think like all the
things you have to do well at Augusta
National he did those things today and
it wasn’t easy and my guess is they kind
of set the golf course up today to be a
little bit more userfriendly based on
the conditions that they expected to get
with wins that we’re going to gust at 35
40 miles an hour and they will start
dialing those conditions back but I I I
think I would be more surprised if he
doesn’t sort of keep up this pace than
if you were to fall off the earth I mean
players were were really surprised it
and just how good the scoring was and
and I asked a couple players uh in the
flash era earlier in in Matt Fitzpatrick
said look the the greens are still soft
they didn’t get the inch to inch and a
half rain that they were anticipated on
Thursday you still saw plenty of balls
sucking off the greens or kind of
spinning away from the whole locations
and making things more difficult that
way with the wind that we had on
Thursday the wind that’s projected on
Friday I do expect the course to kind of
kind of return to the condition that we
saw ear this week that was incredibly
firm very fast very fiery and I’m with
you I I think Bryson is now built in a
way where he’s not tinkering he’s not
trying to to break the mold or break the
game he has his game in a very solid
place that I anticipate with all facets
of his game that could really shine when
it does get more difficult one player
obviously Rex who has proven that he has
the exact type of game that you would
want in these conditions is Scotty
sheffler going bogey free
66 while playing alongside world number
two Roy mcroy who shot 71 as well as
Xander schofl the player who I who I
told all of my friends to bet who who
shot 72 and now finds himself seven
shots off the early uh Pace what stood
out to you about Scotty’s round because
it does feel inevitable that he’s just
going to keep climbing uh just circle
back and button up on Bryson he still
Tinkers he’s have brand new iron
in the bag this week he’s not trying to
change his his game he he said
he’s body’s doing same thing from a
practice regimen day in and day out uh
and I would encourage everyone to tune
in to live from tonight because
apparently Todd Lewis has a report on
Bryson’s irons that are just going to
blow you away apparently the new irons
can just do something special um I I’m
not surprised by anything Scotty did
today and when you ask me what stood out
nothing because that that’s sort of
quintessential Scotty right like he he
kind of went out and he did what he does
all the time I mean he he hit a lot of
Fairways hit a lot of greens and made a
couple of putts I don’t think he puted
nearly as well as say he did at Bay Hill
I mean he missed a i he missed a
four-footer on four for for birdie
didn’t even hit the Hole uh he missed a
a putt from roughly 10 feet or so on 15
that could have dropped for Eagle I mean
this is the easiest 66 in in really
tricky conditions that you could
possibly fathom Rex I I mean Ro Roy
called it efficient the the sort of
round where you’re watching him play and
you can tell that he’s obviously in tune
with his game and playing well but you
just kind of add it up at the end it’s
like yep shot 66 like that’s what that’s
what Scotty sheffler does and it seems
like and Rory said the secret to anyn
major championships is limiting the
mistakes more than making a ton of
birdies at this point from what we’ve
seen from Scotty Sheffer over the past
couple of months he’s doing both’s he he
he has an uncanny ability to get through
rounds mistake free blemish free bogey
free while also making enough birdies to
obviously separate himself from the rest
of the field even on golf courses that
are getting increasingly tricky and he’s
very much I just looked it up he’s very
much in the middle of the pack putting
wise goes and we’ve had this
conversation like put average yeah just
putt average like he doesn’t have to
putt great not the way he hits the ball
not the way he’s able to play this golf
course I mean there’s just there is an
element to his game that we’ve seen
before from only a handful of players
and and again hate doing the Tiger Woods
thing but certainly Tiger Woods would be
in that category Jordan spe when Jordan
spe was playing his best golf here would
resonate there I mean he he is kind of
going into that rare category at least
when it comes to this particular golf
tournament because it’s hard to come up
with a scenaria where he’s not in the
lead like had we been sitting here
having this conversation and he shot a
72 then I would have had something to
say then then I would have needed some
room the 7030 split would have had to
gone my way the fact he shot under par
and is just a couple Strokes off the
lead and alone in second place right now
I mean there was nothing spectacular
about that and that’s kind of what makes
it special yeah the way that he played
the par thres I thought on Thursday
stood out and he and Sky said afterward
that he kind of stole a couple of shots
there three consecutive eight irons uh
on the par 3es at number six at number
12 number 16 all led to birdies uh if if
he is if he’s taken advantage not just
of those holes but doing the damage like
he typically does on the par five he
certainly got a good break with his ball
hanging up with the bank uh on on 13 I
mean it it does feel like this could be
yet another Scotty sh week he’s
absolutely going nowhere how about Rory
Rex comes in at 71 actually had an
opportunity to get it probably around of
69 maybe even 68 if he’d been a little
bit cleaner uh coming home instead uh he
doesn’t get it up and down and take
advantage of a good break hanging up
with his ball on 15 misses a shorty
probably 5T or so below the hole on 16
it makes bogey on 17 this could have
been 69 instead turns into a 71 and yet
it’s still for Roy mroy his best start
to a masters since 2018 which he said
was after what you said afterward is
actually kind of
embarrassing uh it is kind of
embarrassing but it’s better than where
he had been before so I know he’s
probably walked off the golf course and
wasn’t at all happy with the position
where he was in and I certainly can
understand where that’s coming from
however this was going to be a big
hurdle for him and if he’s if he’s being
honest with himself and his heart of
hearts tonight when he goes to bed he’ll
be like okay like I’m whatever he is
he’s six Strokes off the lead we’ve got
54 holes to play I’ve gotten over the
hard part because I have to believe in
his mind this was going to be the hard
part I had to go out and just do
something that wasn’t awful on day one
just get to Thursday get to Thursday in
a proper head space and don’t shoot
yourself out of the golf tournament he
called it on Tuesday try not to win the
golf tournament from in the first t-
shot and and whether if he needs to
convince himself that or not I I think
at this point in the game he probably
shows up at the golf course tomorrow
with a little bit more of a pop in his
step and it’s going to be weird because
I don’t think he’s going to be able to
finish this round tomorrow because of
all the delays we have going on but once
it sort of sinks in and resonates and
and look Bryson could go out and shoot
three more rounds on the par and run
away with this thing and Roy would have
no chance but in the world of I did what
I could only do I I can’t there’s
nothing I can do to control Bry and D
Shambo I think Rory’s probably going to
be pleased with this round yeah and
there’s there’s a bunch of players who
are currently in red numbers Victor hin
got in in red numbers Patrick CLE got in
at Red numbers Matt pittz Patrick got in
at Red numbers Tony fow you can go on
and on the scoring uh was reasonably uh
good and you could keep uh kind of in
touch with with Bryson it it is
interesting R and they’re probably about
to blow the horn here the next 10 or 20
minutes with Tiger Woods uh currently on
the 13th hole obviously a birdie
opportunity sits
currently under
I I mean this is kind of what I thought
Tiger Woods would do I I thought Tiger
Woods would make the cut I think it was
obviously a stretch uh to to actually
contend in this golf tourament
particularly the way that that Scotty
sheffler is playing at the moment but
what do you think this now sets up for
Tiger it is going to be an
excruciatingly long day tiger want tiger
wants to play as long as possible on
Thursday to reduce the amount of time
that he’ll be on the golf course and on
his feet on Friday but it does look like
he’s going to play 22 23 uh maybe even
24 holes on Friday when it’s supposed to
be cooler in the morning supposed to be
just as windy and obviously less
recovery time with this late early wave
uh I think you touched on it like look
this was the good news I think he’ll get
through today and from what I saw just
watching on the coverage on TV we didn’t
see any of the things that we saw last
year that were alarm Bells we didn’t see
him Grimace we didn’t see him struggling
up and down the hills which they AUST is
pretty much nothing but Hills we we
didn’t see him lab ing as he was just
trying to walk I’m not talking about him
actually playing the game of golf it’s
just laboring to get from shot to shot
to shot we didn’t see that that’s good
news the tough news is you’re right
tomorrow is going to be a very very long
day uh I think notay probably said it
best this morning on live from when you
and I were on the idea that this is what
this is a worst case scenario for him
and you never want to Discount him but
it’s going to be tough the low tomorrow
morning is going to be around 54 degrees
and it’s going to get up to 73 which is
fine but right the winds are still going
to be gusting to 30 miles an hour so
it’s not like it’s it’s going to be
something new we’ve seen this enough
times to know that tiger is going to
struggle tomorrow and if he can make it
through tomorrow then I I am very very
confident going into the weekend again
don’t expect him to win uh I would be
pleasantly surprised if he’s even able
to contend but I I’m with you I can see
him making the cut just based on
watching him play
today couple low lights for this opening
round John Ron Bogi his last two holes
to shoot 73 in an opening round of his
title defense Windam Clark actually had
it to three under par with eight holes
left in his opening round ends up coming
in at 73 uh as well all my spe lovers
all my Hideki matama lovers if you’re
plunking down a few of your uh
hard-earned dollars today my sincere
apologies both of those players are
overpar uh and now nowhere near the lead
as we uh exit on Thursday real quick Rex
what are you most looking forward to
seeing uh on Friday will we reconvene
for this mini part of the Golf Channel
podcast oh I mean Tiger Woods I mean
we’re sitting here tomorrow night we
will probably lead the podcast with
Tiger Woods because he’ll go one way or
the other it’ll either be he’ll find a
way to break through and grind it out
and I have no doubt that he’s going to
have to grind this out it’s not going to
be easy or he’s going to succumb to the
things that we’ve seen him succumb to
which is just the physical demands of
trying to get around I don’t know as you
pointed out 22 23 24 holes on a cold day
at August National the most demanding
walk in golf the other half of it is I
mean again it’s going to be kind of
fractured so you’re not we’re not going
to be able to see Bryson go out and
finish this round or Scotty Sheffer go
out and finish his round but it will set
up an interesting weekend because you
and I were talking about it like at one
point this afternoon the leaderboard was
about as good as we could have expected
if I gave you a crayon and a piece of
paper gave you one of Cam’s crayons and
a piece of paper and told you to write
down the 10 names that you want to see
on the leaderboard after day one I don’t
know those 10 names would have been that
much different than what we had at one
point yeah and we did have again a
little bit of slippage obviously the the
17th and 18th holes played very
difficult with the with the win
direction that we had in the opening
round Rory backed up Victor havin backed
up uh Wills Al Torres backed up with
with back-to-back Bogies on 17 18 when
he’d gotten to four under par as well so
I I think that could actually be
advantageous for some of these players
we’re gonna have to finish up that
stretch uh on Friday morning when
potentially it could be slightly more
benign than kind of the whipping winds
that we’ve seen uh right now I I’m with
you and it would be historic if Tiger
Woods were to make the cut and getting
himself in position uh on Friday it
would be his 24th consecutive time
making the cut at the Masters that would
be a tournament record all right that is
going to do it for this Edition Golf
Channel podcast with Rex and lab you
guys know the drill go to nbcsports.com
golf you can read Rex’s take on Bryson
I’ll be packaging a Scotty chef
Roy maoy piece up on the website uh our
blogging extraordinaire Brentley Romine
will also have uh some notes and nuggets
as well Rex will be on live from on
Thursday night you can catch him and Rex
and I will be together on the set on
Friday morning to break down uh the the
conclusion of the first round as well as
a preview of the second round so thanks
as always for listening thanks for the
support we’ll talk to you guys on Friday
night