Bryson DeChambeau continued his rapid, but calculated, ascent in the golfing world as the Clovis East grad plowed through the starstudded field in winning the Dell Technologies Championship from Aug. 31 through Sept. 3.
A day later, he was named a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Another amazing week and win! Thank you @delltechchamp for a great week and all of my friends, family and fans for the support! #FedExCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/qwHD7cQVCr
— Bryson DeChambeau (@b_dechambeau) September 4, 2018
DeChambeau closed the tournament at the TPC Boston with a 4-under 67 on Labor Day, making three straight birdies on the front nine and finishing two shots ahead of Justin Rose.
He started the day one stroke behind leader Abraham Ancer.
“I wouldn’t have written it any better, to be honest with you,” DeChambeau said after his tournament win. “I’ve been playing some great golf this whole year. And I knew it was a matter of time before something cool showed up.”
The 24-year old earned consecutive tour wins after winning the previous week at the Northern Trust at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey.
DeChambeau, along with Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, were named as captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup team. They will join automatic qualifiers Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson. Jim Furyk, the captain of the U.S. team, will choose one more to round out the team of 14.
Tiger Woods ✔️
Phil Mickelson ✔️
Bryson DeChambeau ✔️The United States #RyderCup team is almost complete. pic.twitter.com/n5jPXpjjwi
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) September 4, 2018
The 2018 Ryder Cup will be played at Le Golf National, outside Paris, on Sept. 28-30.
DeChambeau’s hot play has vaulted him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and is now only the second player ever to capture the first two playoff events in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
“You can always get better,” DeChambeau said. “How much? I would say it depends on what I can do in the restrictions of my biomechanics. So it’s all about error tolerances and being … less sensitive to error. So that when you do feel like you mess up, it’s not going to be that big of a mess-up.”
DeChambeau has been on a meteoric rise since he graduated from Clovis East in 2012; he won the California State Junior Championship at age 16 in 2010 and in 2015 won the NCAA individual championship before winning the 2015 U.S. Ametuer title in the same year. Currently, his PGA career earnings sit at $10,282,684 with four total PGA Tour wins and 12 top-10 finishes.
The winner of the Tour Championship (FedEx Cup standings) earns a $10 million bonus.
The physics major has been nicknamed “The Mad Scientist” and the SMU grad utilizes an unconventional approach with all of his irons being the same length, 37 1/2 inches, which is the average length of a 7-iron shaft. In fact, to figure out pin positions he started using a compass, which has since been banned by the PGA.
DeChambeau has also recently bonded with Tiger Woods, whom he played Round 3 of the Dell Technologies Tournament with.
Woods, usually guarded, had some clear and concise thoughts about DeChambeau, and there’s the possibility the two might be paired up at the Ryder Cup.
“Those of us who know him, he’s very fiery,” Woods said of DeChambeau. “We all know he’s extremely intelligent, but his heart … he gives it everything he has and is always trying to get better. We are going overseas and we are going into a pretty hostile environment, so we want guys who are fiery. He’s a tough kid.”