Bryson DeChambeau was far from the only man to struggle in Royal Troon's inclement weather during the first round of The Open Championship, but he'll indubitably prove to have the best rationale for his woes by Thursday's end. Thanks to draining a lengthy eagle putt on the par-5 16th, Bryson salvaged a score of even par on his last 12 holes after a nightmarish start of +5 through six. While he still faces an uphill battle to make the cut, the
reigning US Open champ doesn't believe he played that poorly. Rather, his equipment was to blame for the issues he faced. "It's something equipment-related. [...] I mean, look, I'm not at 190 ball speed, right? So particularly when I'm hitting the driver, 3 wood, those clubs are build for around that speed. [...] So the colder, firmer conditions, golf ball's not compressing as much. [...] Felt like I was swinging it somewhat OK, just the ball wasn't coming off in the window that I normally see." OK fair enough. If Bryson says it's so, who am I to question a two-time national champion? Let's give him the benefit of the doubt, even if I'm a little skeptical of his full explanation. Where things got really off the rails was before that, when Bryson, with the most confidence I've ever seen in a human being in my entire life, corrected a reporter who inquired about "incalculable" factors by stating the correct word was, "incalculatable." https://twitter.com/JoelMBeall/status/1813965708587663546 Incalculatable isn't a word... But with Bryson being Bryson, of all people on this planet, don't put it past him to find an extra syllable where there isn't one. The key from here on out is nobody can tell him. The journalists fortunate enough to be on-site have to make a pact to not tell Bryson and keep needling him with "incalculatable" questions throughout the week. Assuming he makes the cut, that is. Sadly, Bryson is so online with his YouTube channel and social media that I'm sure he'll catch wind of this "incalculatable" gaffe soon enough. Oh well. I don't blame Bryson. For as big math-brained as he is and how monomaniacal he is about analyzing his golf game from every conceivable angle, he's actually quite articulate/well-spoken. At the same time, since calculating
is such a critical part of Mathing, I'm surprised Bryson doesn't know that "incalculable" is the correct terminology. https://twitter.com/kclairerogers/status/1813969374350655741 Let's cut him a break, though. Bryson has been perhaps the most public-facing, scrutinized golfer this side of Rory McIlroy of the past five years or so. The only difference is Rory is widely beloved, while Bryson was an acquired taste at best initially. He had to defect to LIV, mature a lot, and overcome some self-imposed obstacles by pushing his body too far before the masses really embraced him. If anyone can go back to the drawing board and figure out how to play links golf at a high level, it's Bryson. We saw Phil Mickelson struggle overseas to begin his career before eventually winning the Claret Jug in 2013 and getting robbed the last time The Open was at Royal Troon. That was, of course, when Phil dueled Henrik Stenson and lost by three strokes, but cleared the rest of the field by
eleven .
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