1 Bryson DeChambeau practice round tells us how PGA should be expanded

Charlotte, N.C. – There was no practice swing, only one ball was two inches away from the ground and then fired like a missile, trying to cut the corner. This is how you should play Quail Hollow’s second hole while hitting Bryson DeChambeau.

It was Tuesday afternoon, the thunderstorm happened, the sun was back, and the few soaked shoes viewers had to watch DeChambeau Wallop where Tee fired. He didn’t bother looking at the ground. He saw it turn slightly left, drawing on the exact line he wanted, and then turned and grabbed his t-shirt. Everyone else saw it bent into a corner tree and then fell into a rough place. A few minutes later, DeChambeau stood under the tree and begged a volunteer to find information.

“Where did it hit the tree?” he asked. “No, how is it High Have you hit the tree? ”

The answer is unclear. But DeChambeau doesn’t seem to need confirmation. He was already convinced that in the current enthusiasm, he would have no problem. Russell Henley stood about 30 yards at Dechambeau on the fairway, minding his business. Neither of their approach shots rests on the green slope of the cutting hole, and they all regress within each other. Within a moment, this kind of championship may be a fair game for every type of player.

But if you’ve been following this PGA champion, or any competitions you’ve played in Quail Hollow in the past, the discourse has weaved a clear theme: This is a bomber paradise. While you can sometimes get rid of everyone who can use the microphone, it will be smart to just queue up this week. This long and wet PGA tournament will inevitably be won by one of the longest players in the field. Las Vegas likes Devanso.

You must like DeChambeau, too. Especially if you’re the guy who’s been watching him on Tuesday. When Henry’s low and the bullet drive cut too far, he sprinkled the fairway on the 3rd side. From these shots, this is the high altitude of DeChambeau. For Henry, it was something thick. Both fall into green and end in similar positions. Another victory for the short guy! But the tension of these victories drained one person 72 holes.

Henley is one of the 15 best golfers in the world, but you won’t pick him to win, perform even to make the top ten of the week. In 2023, he took the T10 finish from the jaw of physics in the best performance of Quail Hollow, driving it shorter than almost everyone, climbing up like a genius, like a wizard. Considering how far he hits the ball, he will need his A-game suspension. He knows this, based on our brief exercise in the middle of the fifth fairway, showing his length again.

Henley hit two low-skinned cuts, rolling about 10 yards on these wandering fairways both times. Last year, he threw his stock into the T10 score, partly because he had no choice. The course was not set for his game, and the Mother of Nature made the situation worse. The course has had more than one inch of rain since the start of the week, except for a few inches before the week.

Quail Hollow crews are doing their best to remove water from the fairway, hoping to avoid competition from being damaged by mud and racing cars. This is completely reasonable and the first round will be carried out in lift, clean and placement conditions. A staff member said that so much rain has dropped, and the discussion is not about how quickly the water will evaporate, but where can it be explain at present. The maintenance team trimmed the fairway without needing it Tuesday afternoon, mainly to move the water and see if there is room for other places to collect it.

As Henley splashed the long iron into 449 yards, uphill for 5 days, Dechambeau waited, about 50 or 60 yards ahead, no pressure, in the center of the fairway. Since he started distance, DeChambeau has made Quail look small. He created two top 10s in the last two times in this course (2018 and 2021). He threw several balls into one of the bunkers and hit some sky balls from the beach, which were gently landing on the sand on the green. These fluctuations are nothing formed and nothing really comes from their results. It’s just the ominous point that one of these men will play golf this week.