It was there during Saturday’s third round, at one of the farthest outposts of a Rocket Mortgage Classic that was already devoid of fans, where DeChambeau lost his cool. He lashed out at the sand after a poor shot, then confronted a cameraman for what he perceived as overly prying coverage.
The Tour’s bulkiest star admitted the sand swipe was “dumb,” but the comments he made in an effort to explain himself only made things worse: that the camera lens should deflect when players face a “potential vulnerability” and defer to a star’s right to “privacy” even when inside the ropes.
Bryson DeChambeau got into an exchange of words with a cameraman during Saturday’s third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Those comments only intensified the flood of online opinions centered around the 26-year-old, with many noting a jarring juxtaposition: that a player who released a 15-minute hype video detailing his body transformation last month would play the privacy card the moment he’s caught in an unflattering light.
And that’s a shame, because the on-course DeChambeau brand was floating by just fine on its own merits before the man himself poured gas on an unlit fire and reached for a match.
Outside of the Tour’s efforts to cope with an ongoing pandemic, DeChambeau has been the single biggest story in the sport since competition resumed last month. Hours of programming, interviews and commentary have been devoted to his head-turning transformation and prodigious gains off the tee.
And that was all before he arrived in Detroit, put some extra muscle behind a closing 65 and left the field in the dust for his first win in 20 months. Those powers were on full display on the par-5 seventh, back at the site of his earlier blow-up, where this time around he launched a 366-yard drive that came to rest in the middle of the fairway. From there it was a smooth 8-iron into the green and a two-putt birdie, a shining example of the gains possible when playing by rules that only he can currently follow.
After starting the day three shots behind Matthew Wolff, DeChambeau was suddenly three clear of the field before making the turn. And while things got a little interesting down the stretch, it was a lead he never relinquished.
With a final-round 65, Bryson DeChambeau quickly overcame early deficit and then ran away to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic by three over Matthew Wolff.
“This is a little emotional for me, because I did do something different,” DeChambeau said. “I changed my body, changed my mindset in the game, and I was able to accomplish a win while playing a completely different style of golf. And it’s pretty amazing to see that.”
In a game that can often skew toward homogeneity, DeChambeau stands out. From the single-length irons to a single-plane swing and now a singular focus on getting bigger and longer, everything about him is different – and often polarizing. He has recently become more vocal about a mindset he first adopted as a teenager, which is to “be the casino,” since the house always wins. To that end, he’s looking to parse every possible advantage in a game where each player starts the week with the same score from the same teeing ground.
“I think the most important thing is that I’ve shown people that there’s another way to do it, and there’s going to be other people trying to come up and do it that way,” DeChambeau said. “For me, I think there are going to be people trying to hit it a little harder, some of them, but at the end of the day, it’s going to take a generation for all this to evolve into something different.”
DeChambeau on Rocket Mortgage win: ‘It’s vindicating’
While his pursuit of perfection may never end, this week’s assault on Detroit GC came pretty close. DeChambeau opened the week by apologizing to late course architect Donald Ross for his planned aerial assault that would take many of the bunkers and much of the other trouble out of play. He followed up by leading the field in driving distance (350.6 yards on measured holes, 329.8 on all tee shots) and strokes gained: off-the-tee. But he also led in strokes gained: putting, the first player in the ShotLink era to top the field in both categories en route to victory. Given that statistical edge on both sides of the stat line, his three-shot cushion over Wolff almost seems smaller than expected.
“It shows me how much time he has on his hands. He needs kids or something,” said Kevin Kisner, who finished alone in third place at 18 under. “It’s amazing that he’s that dedicated to the sport that he’s going to put that much time and effort into being a consummate professional, really. I mean, he’s changed the entire way the game’s played.”
DeChambeau isn’t a conformist. He’s not going to adjust to the mores that have governed the game for hundreds of years. He’ll continue to swim upstream one technical innovation at a time, attracting a wide range of opinions on his tactics and philosophies, and likely won’t reach the levels of universal adulation achieved by some of his peers.
Begay on Bryson the ‘innovator’: He’s not afraid to challenge status quo
Begay on Bryson the ‘innovator’: He’s not afraid to challenge status quo
“I will say for the people at home, no matter how much you want to say about me, I love everyone,” he said. “I hope everybody just appreciates the hard work I’ve put in.”
What he is, though, is the undisputed hottest player in the game. He’s long and straight and seemingly only getting longer and straighter, leaving him with fewer aspects in need of fine-tuning to put up a performance like this week’s Motor City romp. He’s a deserved betting co-favorite for next month’s PGA Championship, and he’s in the process of reinventing the blueprint for how to dissect each and every Tour venue he faces.
Sunday was a good day for Bryson, both the player and the brand. And there will be many more in the near future as the game’s foremost innovator continues to hone his protein-infused craft.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
