PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND | Matthew Fitzpatrick and Bryson DeChambeau do not, at first glance, have a lot in common.
The Englishman is a slight figure with the air of a junior accountant, and he likes to keep a low profile. The American has a bulked-up body, a mad scientist’s mind, and he revels in being the centre of attention.
They are, however, both perfectionists with a passion for numbers, and, as such, links golf often befuddles them. Unlike those who love this form of the game, they do not instinctively relish its inherently capricious nature.
“I like it when it’s fair,” Fitzpatrick said when asked about golf by the seaside at the 2021 Scottish Open. “I don’t like it when it’s unfair.”
DeChambeau’s comments tend to be similarly qualified. “I wouldn’t say it’s a problem, it’s a challenge,” he said after missing the cut at last year’s Open Championship at Royal Troon and he was at it again at the halfway point this year, even after making the weekend following contrasting – in score, at least – rounds of 78-65.
“I played the same as I did yesterday,” he insisted. “That’s links golf for you.”
Staring at a first-round leaderboard on which he sat T144th, with only seven players beneath him, he admitted that he had wanted to go home on Thursday evening.
“But I woke up and I said, ‘You know what? I can’t give up.’ My dad always told me never to give up, just got to keep going, and that’s what I did today. To persevere through some emotionally difficult moments, to hold myself together and not get pissed and slam clubs and throw things like I wanted to – I was very proud of myself.”
That pride fuelled the sizzling fightback and he added of his attitude: “I want to be a good role model for kids, and I struggled with that in the early part of my career. I want it to be different now.”
Throughout the weekend he was among the most popular golfers on the course. His name was cried aloud as he walked onto every tee and green. He completed a high-five with almost every palm offered him between holes.
At one stage he jogged down a 40-yard line of outstretched mitts from the 17th tee, slapping each and every one of them, laughing at the sheer joy of the acclaim.
Having fathomed the popularity puzzle, he has started to find answers to the riddle of the links and it started with acceptance.
“Look, in order to be a complete golfer you’ve got to win over here,” he said after the second-round 65. “That’s something I’ve struggled to do. I’ve played well at times when it’s dry and the greens are more consistent in their bounce.
“But when it gets as chaotic as this, with the wind going every which way, when you’re preparing all day for that left-to-right wind off 18 and then it flips completely, you have to be able to pivot on demand.”
“I always told you guys that I like it when it’s fair conditions. I still have to crack the code when it’s raining and windy. But I feel like we’re getting close to some solutions for that. I’m starting to learn.”
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU
He appreciates that he is involved in a long game. He’s finished top six in five of the last half dozen American major championships, but ahead of last week had just one top 30 in seven tries at the Open (and that was on the Old Course at St Andrews, which traditionally favours golfers who are bewildered by the other rota venues).
Back in 2021 at Royal St George’s he acknowledged: “It’s going to take time to learn the ins and outs of Open golf. I don’t think I’ll ever figure it out, but hopefully one year I can get the right breaks going for me.”
At LIV Golf’s English tournament last year, just a week after his missed cut at Royal Troon, he said: “Prep work next year is going to be a big thing for me going into the Open.”
Twelve months later, DeChambeau’s pre-championship press conference was, not for the first time, full of wind. But on this occasion it was of the niche variety as he revealed how his preparations had included deep questions of golf’s most volatile weather condition.
“Using the wind and not trying to ride it is something that’s pretty simple to talk about but sometimes difficult to execute,” he explained.
“I’m still working on that. We’re testing right now, working on how different types of wind affect the balls. It’s a personal project and it’s going to take time to understand it.
“Heavy wind is a great way to describe it here. It’s thick. It’s a situation where you go, all right, this feels like a 15 mph wind, and all of a sudden it plays like a 30 mph wind, and you’re like, what the heck? I just need more reps.”
Asked how he might create an environment in which he could unravel the mystery he was typically inventive.
“This is wild,” he said. “But imagine a scenario where you’ve got a 400-yard tent, and you can just hit any type of shot with any wind created by fans.
“That’s what I imagine, like a hangar or a massive wind tunnel. I’d do that. I’d love that.”
With no such facility available he instead honed his half-shots and planned to shape the ball into the wind. It didn’t work on Thursday but it was mostly superb thereafter. He backed up Friday’s 65 with weekend scores of 68-64 to reshape his memories of the week.
His 9-under-par total of 275 was eventually good enough for a T10 finish that prompted U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley to tell Sports Illustrated that DeChambeau will be part of the American team at Bethpage Black, even if the LIV Golf competitor falls out of the top six who qualify automatically. And it begged the question of whether, like previous Open champions such as Tom Watson, Zach Johnson and Brian Harman, initial frustrations with the British and Irish seaside had been transformed by an epiphany.
He shook his head. “I always told you guys that I like it when it’s fair conditions,” he said. “I still have to crack the code when it’s raining and windy. But I feel like we’re getting close to some solutions for that. I’m starting to learn.”
It was not all smooth sailing, alas. His dash from the 17th tee on Saturday was not only inspired by the desire to please his fans. He and playing partner Nathan Kimsey were also on the clock, and DeChambeau was not happy about it.
He is a changed man with regard to the pace of play, just as he is with other aspects of his personality and game. It’s even a rare problem that he believes does not require outside-of-the-box thinking to solve.
“It’s not rocket science,” he said, having chuntered his way from the 17th green to the scorer’s hut on Saturday afternoon. “It’s very simple. It’s not difficult at all.
“You time everybody for their whole entire round. Very simple. Nobody wants to do it because people are too scared to get exposed, which I am an advocate for. I’d love to be timed, and I have no problem with that.”
Matt Cooper