ORLANDO, Florida – Bryson DeChambeau took the opportunity to try to drive the green on the Bay Hill Club’s sixth par 5 hole and celebrated as if he had done so on Saturday, during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
DeChambeau’s drive, which cut through a huge lake, ended 50 yards to the right of the green, but traveled 370 yards and rolled down the fairway into the rough. The hole measures 555 yards and no player on the field hit his starting shot so close to the green.
He ended up hitting a wedge kick from the rough to the front of the green and then two shots for an easy birdie of about 35 feet.
“I felt like a kid again, for sure. It was exciting,” said DeChambeau after a 68 left him a shot from 54-hole leader Lee Westwood. “Especially when you did it. It was almost like winning a tournament. I had the same chills and sensation when I saw everything clearly and there was no splashing. I gave the fans what they wanted.”
DeChambeau, the current champion of the US Open, whose well-known diet and fitness in the last 18 months has made him gain muscle and gain more than 40 pounds, has emerged as the main driver of the PGA Tour. Last year, he led with an average of more than 322 yards per course.
To hit the green from the tee on Saturday, DeChambeau said he would have to take his shot to 335 yards, which he did. He avoided going straight to the lawn because of the wind.
DeChambeau made a few attempts during Wednesday’s pro-am, but it didn’t work because of the wind. This led him to take a more conservative path during the first two rounds, causing some fun boos. He made birdies in the hole in two of the three rounds.
The encouragement of onlookers behind the goal spurred DeChambeau, he said.
“Most of the time, it’s a shot that I know I can do and that I was able to shoot,” he said. “I would have done it without the fans, but the fans definitely encouraged me a little bit and it was fun to give them what they wanted. ”