For better or for worse, the marriage of Bryson DeChambeau and the PGA Tour is a perfect match.
Whether DeChambeau is flogging a golf course into submission or flailing to the finish; portraying himself as the biggest, smartest guy in the room or belittling his image saying and doing the dumbest things; feuding with fellow players or the fourth estate, there is no question that he is the biggest show in a Tiger-free golf world.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t take your eyes off him.
In a super-sized season that included six majors in the last 11 months, DeChambeau did it all. He crushed the field and vaunted Winged Foot last September in the U.S. Open, then blew a lead with a “bad luck” back-nine 44 in June at Torrey Pines. When crowds returned at Bay Hill, he put on an unprecedented show of power that would have had Arnold Palmer expanding his lake if he were alive to see it. But on some of the game’s biggest stages from majors to the Players to WGCs in 2021, he kicked away opportunities. His verbal jousts with Brooks Koepka inspired taunts from outside the ropes. His barking at Patrick Cantlay at the BMW Championship inspired a new rivalry. He trashed a sponsor and mishandled questions about his on-course etiquette and vaccine avoidance that cost him a spot in the Olympics which drew criticism and muted his relationship with media beyond tour partners.
And yet Bryson rolls on in his own inimitable way. Like brawny villain Thanos from the Marvel Universe, DeChambeau is inevitable.
While few amassed the volume of birdies and bogeys that DeChambeau did over the course of 2020-21, there was a lot to reflect on in the most packed season in PGA Tour history.
BIRDIE: Fans. How good is it to have galleries back? From storming the 18th hole at the PGA Championship to relatively full houses at every venue since, we appreciate more than ever how much a crowd adds to the atmosphere and the stakes. The tour wants to harness that positive energy while weaning the “disrespectful” elements out. Good luck.
WD: Tiger Woods. A violent single-car crash in California in February left Tiger severely injured and fortunate to be alive. It also abruptly halted his effort to break his tie at 82 with Sam Snead atop the PGA Tour’s all-time wins list. Whether he’ll ever compete again remains an open question.
BIRDIE: Playoffs. Everything seemed supersized this summer. Both playoff events had playoffs, including Cantlay vs. Bryson in a six-hole classic at the BMW for Cantlay’s second playoff victory over a major winner this summer. Six guys played two extra holes in the regular season finale in Greensboro. Three guys at WGC in Memphis. Seven guys played off for one bronze medal at the Olympics. Seamus Power and J.T. Poston went six holes at Barbasol. Cam Davis needed five extra holes in Detroit a week after Harris English and Kramer Hickok went a record-tying eight holes before a birdie (marking English’s second playoff win of the season). All in all, there were 14 playoffs this season.
BOGEY: COVID-19. There were some big victims of the coronavirus, topped by Jon Rahm’s DQ from the Memorial with a six-shot lead through 54 holes. It cost Rahm and DeChambeau Olympic starts and sidelined reigning Masters champ Hideki Matsuyama and former Open champ Zach Johnson at the British. The pandemic is not over. Get your shots.
BIRDIE: Major diversity. There were six majors crammed into this season, and six heavyweight players lifted the trophies. Phil Mickelson’s historic triumph a month shy of his 51st birthday at Kiawah was the crown jewel, but the full roster of winners will stand out as one of the best including four of the top seven in the world.
DOUBLE BOGEY: Player Impact Program. Word leaked out midseason about $40 million designated to be doled out to top players who generate the most buzz via social media and other means of engagement. The commish said the beneficiaries will remain secret. That’s basically a slush fund.
BIRDIE: Jordan Spieth. After a lengthy slump that raised worries he would ever be the same elite player who threatened to win the Grand Slam in 2015, Spieth made a welcome return to the winner’s circle at the Valero Texas Open and in relevance as a contender on golf’s biggest stages.
BOGEY: Rory McIlroy. Yes, McIlroy won at his comfortable happy place, Quail Hollow, but for the most part it has been a relatively lost year of fits and starts and crises of confidence for the man who was ranked No. 1 last summer and has fallen to No. 13 in the world.
BIRDIE: Drought busters. Stewart Cink, 48, won twice after 11 years in the dark. Martin Laird and Brian Gay, 49, ended seven-year dry spells. Lucas Glover – like Cink a 2009 major winner – ended a 10-year drought at the John Deere.
BOGEY: Justin Thomas. Burned by a hot mic at Kapalua that cost him a major sponsor and some PR cred, Thomas mustered only one victory – albeit a biggie from off the cut line at the Players – and was a relative non-factor in the majors.
BIRDIE: International crashers. South Africa’s Garrick Higgo and Erik van Rooyen, Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz, South Korea’s K.H. Lee, Ireland’s Seamus Power and Australia’s Cam Davis all claimed maiden victories on the PGA Tour. Only three Americans were first-time winners.
Sixty-one players averaged at least 300 yards off the tee. Only 21 did that 10 years ago and only one (John Daly) did that 20 years ago.
BOGEY: Dominance vacuum. There were 43 players who claimed victories in 50 official events. Patrick Cantlay was the only player to win more than twice, with just five other multiple tour winners this season (Morikawa, DeChambeau, English, Cink and Jason Kokrak).
BIRDIE: Playoff streaks. Six players had qualified among the top 125 for all 15 FedEx Cup playoffs – Mickelson, Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar, Charley Hoffman and Brandt Snedeker. Three players fell from that fraternity this year: Justin Rose, Charles Howell III and Ryan Moore.
DQ: Angel Cabrera. Snagged on the lam by Interpol in Brazil and convicted and jailed on domestic violence charges in his native Argentina, the former U.S. Open and Masters champion may one day test the limits of what a lifetime Augusta exemption means.
BIRDIE: Speed golf. Joaquin Niemann never broke par in the season-ending Tour Championship, but he shattered Kevin Na’s tournament record of 1 hour, 59 minutes for the fastest official round at East Lake by shooting 72 in 1:53. Wesley Bryan’s tour record time of 88 minutes to shoot 69 in the 2017 BMW Championship still stands.
BIRDIE: Sunjae Im. The ironman from South Korea played 35 events and set the record for total birdies in a season with 498, breaking Steve Flesch’s 2000 record of 493. His 513 birdies or better also tops Flesch’s mark of 509 in a season.
PAR: Bombers. Sixty-one players averaged at least 300 yards off the tee. Only 21 did that 10 years ago and only one (John Daly) did that 20 years ago. The tour average in 2000 was 272.2 yards. This season it was 296.2.
BIRDIE: Scottish Open. The alliance with the European Tour will pay a huge dividend with the co-sanctioned event in Scotland leading directly into the 150th Open at St. Andrews.
BIRDIE: Jon Rahm. He didn’t win the FedEx Cup despite sharing the lowest score at East Lake, but the Spaniard won the Vardon Trophy for scoring average (69.3) and led the tour in strokes gained tee-to-green and overall. Fun fact: Rahm shot the lowest under par in two events where Cantlay won trophies.
PAR: Brendon Todd. DeChambeau may outdrive him by an average of 48.5 yards, but Todd led the tour in the lost art of driving accuracy at 75.25 percent. Only K.J. Choi and David Hearn averaged fewer yards off the tee.
BIRDIE: Sam Burns. Third-year pro made a giant leap forward, with a win (Valspar), two runner-ups, a third, eight top-10s, 12 top-25s to earn more than $5 million and a top-10 FedEx Cup ranking.
BOGEY: Hunter Mahan. The former Ryder Cup fixture averaged 73.2 to rank last in scoring average among players who met the minimum 50-round standard. He made only four cuts in 26 starts.
BIRDIE: Offseason. It’s only a week long, but at least there is a brief break between both the PGA and Korn Ferry Tour Championships and the start of the 2021-22 season at next week’s Fortinet Championship in California.