NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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He’s gone through his “mad scientist” and “incredible bulk” phases. But one thing that never changes about Bryson DeChambeau is his fascination with perfecting his equipment.
“I think I've gotten equipment that is performing a little differently for me, and I’m settled on that,” he said in Augusta after shooting a career-best 7-under 65 in the opening round of the Masters.
DeChambeau’s game has settled into a decent rhythm in LIV Golf, where he shot a 58 last season at the Greenbrier when he put a Krank Formula Fire LD Driver into play. But he put an entirely new set of clubs into play last week at Augusta National, and the combination of tools and his skillset meshed well immediately.
“I put new irons in this week. I think that’s a pretty big change,” he said. “And been using this new driver, 3-wood and 5-wood. So pretty much my whole bag is different since Greenbrier of last year, and putter is the only thing that’s remained the same.”
He helped design his new custom-made single-length irons with a boutique clubmaker called Avoda – a Hebrew word with multiple meanings including precision. After the player’s split with Cobra last year, his coach Mike Schy suggested Avoda Golf owner Tom Bailey would work well with DeChambeau in building irons precisely to the player’s wants. The set is made in China using 3-D printing because standard CNC milling wouldn’t work.
When the irons were first presented to the USGA for approval, they were rejected because the grooves were too narrow. By grinding down the grooves, they were deemed to conform and got final signoff by the USGA on Monday before the Masters, and the 2020 U.S. Open champion immediately put them in play.
The unique design feature of the irons is a bulged face typically seen on drivers and woods, which creates less curvature at high speeds and helps correct off-center strikes. One-of-a-kind bolts set into the face from center to toe help offset mis-hits outside the center of the face.
“I’m still aggressive. I may not be necessarily as fast, but when I want to swing fast, I can get it to 200 miles per hour pretty easily,” DeChambeau said. “Maybe three or four balls I’m there, but I think around 190 when I’m going at it normally. But just with the equipment that I have, it works really well at those speeds.”
Avoda’s website says the one-length (37.25-inch) irons are being released in May. Schy told Golfweek two weeks ago: “I’ve never seen him hit it so good.”
DeChambeau also uses an 11.5-degree TaylorMade BRNR Mini driver as his 3-wood and replaced his 5-wood with a 13-degree Krank Formula Fire fairway wood.
His putter remains a SIK Pro C-Series Armlock with a heavy LA Golf shaft.
Scott Michaux