DeChambeau closes with 58 to secure LIV victory
Bryson DeChambeau became the fourth player on a top-level tour to shoot 58, making birdie on his last four holes to capture his first LIV Golf title.
I spent some time this afternoon watching Bryson D play the greatest round of golf I've ever seen. While there was little drama - he was pulling away from the field - his play was magical. For non-golfers, he ended up shooting a 58, tying the best score ever achieved at the top level of professional golf.
He was attacking the flagstick on every hole. The weather got worse and worse as the round went forward. By the time he reached the 18th green he was playing in a driving rain. 35 feet or so from the pin, the hope was that he would get down in two strokes from there, giving him a 59...but he actually made the 35 footer for a 58. On Saturday he shot a 61, giving him, without any doubt, the best two-round total in the history of professional golf. He was the first golfer ever to break 60 while having a bogey in the round.
I can't think of any one-day or two-day accomplishment in any other sport that compares. The only thing that comes to mind is Wilt's 100 point game. Even a perfect game in baseball is accomplished with some regularity and that cannot be said about DeChambeau's accomplishment. It is unique.
Again, for non-golfers, DeChambeau is a technical rebel, scorned by professional golfers around the world. He employs a "single-plane" swing, a technique that only about 2% of teaching pro's will even teach, unless you force the issue. His clubs are also revolutionary. Everyone else's clubs have a different length and different "lie angle" for every iron. DeChambeau's clubs are all the same length and have the same lie angle, from 3-iron to wedges.
His accomplishment has special meaning for me, because I golf the same way (technique-wise, not skill wise). His "single-plane" swing was pioneered by Canadian great, Moe Norman, who was self taught and still remembered as one of the best "ball strikers" in the history of the game. When Normal was in his 60's, he gave a day of clinics for golfing students, hitting over 700 tee shots - every one landing within a 15-yard radius.
As I watched Bryson play the 16th hole or so, I brought up ESPN on my Chromebook and saw that the round was actually over, and he had shot the 58 I was watching a taped replay. Bummer. No matter. It was exciting, especially when I predicted to my wife that he would make that 35-foot putt at the end!
