Bryson DeChambeau comes up one putt short of magical number in BMW Championship at Caves Valley
OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Bryson DeChambeau had 17 putts inside 12 feet in Friday’s second round of the BMW Championship.
He made 16.
Unfortunately, the one he missed left him a shot shy of shooting a 59.
DeChambeau, who could have birdied his final two holes to join Jim Furyk as the only players to shoot 58 on the PGA Tour, missed a 6-footer on the 18th hole after missing from 15 feet on the 17th and came up just short of golf’s magic number.
The Big Man from Big D made two eagles and eight birdies to shoot a 12-under-par 60 at soft, vulnerable Caves Valley Golf Club, where PGA Tour officials allowed preferred lies.
Through 36 holes, DeChambeau has made 15 birdies and two eagles and is at the top of the leaderboard at 16 under, one shot ahead of Patrick Cantlay, who was 10 under on his round through 16 holes but came home with a 63.
“A lot of putts went in. A lot of things went right,” DeChambeau told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. “We got a lot of great numbers out of the rough today, and I played my butt off and never thought too much about anything until the last few holes, and I striped a 9-iron on 17, striped a drive, striped a wedge on 18 and just wasn’t able to clutch those putts up.
“But I stroked it pretty well today.”
As for the putt on the 18th, DeChambeau said, “I thought I hit it on the line. Just misread it. We played it two and a half, three inches out, and it clearly didn’t break that much, but I had good speed on it and I’ll go look afterwards and see if I pulled it or not and work on ways to mitigate that.”
Jon Rahm, who won this tournament last year when it was played at Olympia Fields south of Chicago, also was at 15 under through 15 holes when play was suspended due to darkness.
“It was very nice to come from the restart, and usually things can slow down, and played some great holes from 11 to 15 and have a birdie chance at 16,” Rahm said. “Too bad we can’t finish today, but tomorrow being fresh greens in the morning and I think the restart not being too early, I think we’re going to have plenty of time to rest tonight and then a little bit of time to rest before the restart.
“Looking forward to finishing strong. Hopefully I can make a birdie on one of the last three holes and have a good day tomorrow.”
DeChambeau talked to SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio, NBC and Sky Sports but kept up his boycott of the print media which began a month ago after his controversial comments about not taking the COVID-19 vaccine caused a storm.
His 60 has been the highlight of a turbulent summer for the world No. 6, who won the 2020 U.S. Open in the fall and the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.
He split with his longtime caddie, Tim Tucker; didn’t talk to the media at the Rocket Mortgage Classic despite being the defending champion and being sponsored by Rocket Mortgage; shot 44 on the back nine in the final round of the U.S. Open and fell from the lead to a tie for 26th; created a firestorm with his equipment company when he said his driver “sucks” at the British Open; was forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Summer Games after testing positive for COVID-19; and all the while dealt with a feud with Brooks Koepka.
But on Friday at Caves Valley, his clubs did the talking.
DeChambeau averaged 330 yards off the tee, hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation and needed just 25 putts. He putted for eagle on the four par 5s and his birdies came from putts of 11, 3, 12, 5, 31, 7, 3 and 8 feet while his two eagles came from 11 feet on the fourth and three feet on the 16th.
.@B_DeChambeau had this putt on No. 18 for a 59.
Up to this point he was a perfect 16/16 inside 12 1/2 feet. pic.twitter.com/ImyRfSs5AC
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 27, 2021
“I knew all day if I continued to hit fairways and greens, I could give myself a really good chance to (go low),” DeChambeau said. “There’s plenty of holes where I could have made a birdie somewhere else. I still executed a good putt (on 18). It just didn’t break the way I wanted it to, that’s all I could ask for.”
Harris English and Jordan Spieth were grouped with DeChambeau the first two rounds and enjoyed their ringside seat on Friday.
“I played with Bryson the first two rounds when he won at Bay Hill, and when he’s driving it that straight, it’s got to be what it was like in the early 2000s with Tiger just hitting it the furthest and the straightest,” Spieth said. “It’s a little easier from there, but you’ve still got to get it in the hole, and he just drove the ball well, made a few longer putts today, and had it going.
“I was just trying to piggy-back a little bit, but when you’re watching it, it can be a little bit kind of frustrating if you don’t have it going just because you’re like, man, is this what everyone is doing; is everyone tearing it up? What a round.”
English was paired with DeChambeau in the final group in the final round of the World Golf Championships-St. Jude Invitational earlier this month, with English finishing fourth and DeChambeau tying for eighth. On that day, the air was filled with negative comments aimed at DeChambeau.
Things were different at Caves Valley.
“It seemed like everybody was pulling for him,” English said. “You’d hear the random negative comments, but it was nice to see a bunch of positive energy out there, and he obviously feeds off that.
“It was really cool. Jordan and I were talking about it yesterday; if he keeps driving it the way he is he can shoot whatever he wants to shoot. I haven’t seen him drive it this well since I’ve played with him. I’ve played with him probably 10 or 12 times out here, and he’s driving it incredible.
“He can bring (Caves Valley) to its knees, and he did it today. The way he’s putting, I can see him going out the next two days and scaring 59 again.”
