Sports

Masters 2024: I was there for Bryson DeChambeau’s incredible recovery shot—here’s how it happened

Published

5 months ago

April 12, 2024

AUGUSTA, Ga. — At first glance, Bryson DeChambeau’s Masters record doesn’t inspire much confidence. His best finish here is a T-21 as an amateur. In six starts since, he’s missed two cuts and never finished better than T-29.

The cause of that record can be explained by one thing: big numbers. DeChambeau has averaged three double bogeys (or worse) per tournament, in each of his last five Masters tournaments. He was the first-round leader in one of those Masters. He would have ended in the top 10 in two others if he kept those holes in the bogey range. But he didn’t, which is why he’s the man with the bad record.

Just as it’s true for the rest of us, it’s not the bogeys that kill you, it’s the blow up holes. That’s been Bryson’s downfall at this event at Augusta National in the past, and why he was preaching a new mantra coming into this tournament.

“I’m trying to be more patient and knowing what the golf course can give you and what it can take away and respect it.” he said. “But when you feel like it’s gettable, you see it’s right in front of you, it can be super tricky.”

That quote, in its entirety, explains DeChambeau’s seven-under round of 65. The first part refers to 17 1/2 holes, and the last sentence is about one round-defining recovery. The moment when Bryson almost—and perhaps should’ve—repeated his same mistakes of the past.

DeChambeau was fresh off two impressive birdies on the previous three holes: the first on the 12th, where he rolled in a 17-footer for birdie; the second on the 13th, where, from 202 yards in the pine straw, he floated a fade onto the left side of the green and two-putted for birdie.

On the par-5 15th, DeChambeau pulled his driver and took a few deep breaths—his longstanding method of revving up his nervous system for a few extra horsepower—and sent one into the distance. The crowd was impressed, but Bryson lost his balance slightly on his follow through. As he fell back to his trail foot, his gaze lingered on his ball.

DeChambeau’s ordinary draw didn’t turn quite as much. The wind moving from left-to-right neutralized the little effort his ball was making in trying to come back.

His ball ended next to a tree, but not close enough that he’d have to worry about a stretched swing. DeChambeau briefly entertained the idea of hitting a layup shot, but in reality, he knew what he wanted to do as soon as he settled into the shot at hand. Perhaps thoughts of the 13th hole birdie from earlier were still swirling.

“That shot wouldn’t be any easier,” DeChambeau told his caddy as he surveyed the shot.

The shot DeChambeau was referring to—and the primary case for his defense—wasn’t the one he was about to hit, but the one he’d have after that. In his last season on the PGA Tour before joining LIV Golf, which doesn’t keep as detailed stats, DeChambeau finished 178th on tour in approach shots between 50 and 125 yards.

DeChambeau’s wedge game has never been his strength, and even less so since DeChambeau added more speed to the top of his bag.

“The wedge shot wasn’t going to be any easier for me,” he reiterated afterwards. “Especially downwind as the greens were getting firm.”

Instead, from 220 yards out, DeChambeau wanted to hit a hard, high high fade around the bundle of trees in front of him. He spent a long time diliberating the shot. He didn’t need to hit his ball onto the green, he told his caddy, but anything long and left of it would give him a relatively straightforward up-and-down opportunity.

The fade was an essential part here, because in order to get around the trees he needed to aim at the grandstand on the left. The goal was to hit his ball around the trees, over the water, and “get it to the back side and try to chip up.”

“You’ll have a look roughly half the time, and those are the times you score,” says Scott Fawcett, the co-founder of the DECADE course management system that DeChambeau has used in the past. “It is far more important that you don’t over do the aggression or do something silly when you don’t.”

DeChambeau should’ve pitched out and taken the slightly uncomfortable wedge shots. Even he admits it.

“It was a little scary of a shot,” he said. “I probably shouldn’t have done it.”

Nine times out of 10—hell, 99 times out of 100—he would’ve been right. But on this occasion, he was the best kind of wrong.

Seconds after the ball left the clubface, it touched a tree. DeChambeau began walking after his ball in a bundle of nervous energy, wincing and no doubt fearing the worst. When his ball turned dry, he threw his arms into the air and almost collapsed to the ground. His caddy handed him his putter.

Two putts later, DeChambeau notched the first of his three consecutive birdies.

“I pushed it a little bit,” he said afterwards. “It clipped the tree. I hit four pine needles rather than five, and it worked out perfectly. I got away with one.”

He did, indeed. DeChambeau hit on 17 at the blackjack table and turned up a four. The best thing he could do now is gather his winnings and walk away from the table ahead, but the challenge of golf is that it’s not fun to walk away from a hot hand.

For DeChambeau at the 2024 Masters, the question remains: Is this an example of the kind of double-bogey disaster mindset waiting to happen, as it has in the past? Or a glimpse into a man whose game has matured, and who this week might see the breaks finally go his way.

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Sports

Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

Published

1 hour ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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Arch Manning to get first start for No. 1 Texas as Ewers continues recovery from abdomen strain

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.

It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.

Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.

Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.

The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.

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