The Masters: Bryson DeChambeau not considering himself the favourite at Augusta
Bryson DeChambeau: "The attention I've gained has been awesome. I love it, I think it's fun. But I've got to set myself back and realise anybody can win this week. You have plenty of unbelievable players that can beat you, and it doesn't mean that I'm going to win"
Tuesday 10 November 2020 20:02, UK
Bryson DeChambeau might be the favourite with the bookmakers but will consider himself an underdog ahead of The Masters this week.
DeChambeau is continuing to produce astounding distance figures that have prompted many observers to predict another major victory for the US Open champion, although he insisted that a sharp short-game will be a more important asset at Augusta National.
He hinted that he could put a new 48-inch driver into play after initial testing proved "promising", but he is not getting ahead of himself as he considers the prospect of being measured for a Green Jacket on Sunday evening - a jacket that would have been significantly smaller last April!
"I'm trying to look at it as I'm still an underdog to the field," said DeChambeau. "Anybody can win this week, there are a lot of unbelievable players out there. So I will never look at myself as someone that is better than anyone out here until the scores are written in stone afterwards. It's just not what I do, it's not what I will ever do.
"But the attention that I've gained has been awesome. I love it, I think it's fun. But I've got to set myself back and realise anybody can win this week. You have plenty of unbelievable players that can beat you this week, and doesn't mean that I'm going to win. I could be the favourite, I could be dead last and still have an opportunity this week.
"I don't know how it's going to play out, but I'm going to give it my all and, if I don't play well, if I miss the cut, I'm still going to be gracious and walk off and say 'you know what, I've still had a great year and I'm going to try and come back better next year'."
DeChambeau appeared to rule out the prospect of carrying two drivers in his bag this week, even with no apparent need for mid-to-long irons for a player who reached the par-five 13th with a drive and a pitching wedge, although he is fully aware of the necessity of chipping and putting well at the Masters.
"Every day I'm trying to get faster and stronger and I'm trying to hit it as far as possible," he added. "I have no idea where the end game is on this. I am hitting it further now than I was at the US Open, and I'm trying a driver this week that may help me hit it even a little bit further, so we'll see.
"I can hit it as far as I want to, but it comes down to putting and chipping out here. That is one of the things that I think people sometimes struggle to see. As much as I can gain an advantage off the tee, I still have to putt it well and chip it well and wedge it well and even iron-play it well.
"That's what I did at the US Open. If I don't putt it well at Winged Foot, if I don't wedge it well, if I don't hit my irons close, I don't win that tournament. So it always comes down to making the putts at the end of the day."
DeChambeau admitted on Monday that he was treating the par-72 layout as a par-67, and he is excited by the results of his extensive testing of a new driver with the maximum length of shaft permissible while also insisting that his critics should realise he will experience more failure than success as he goes through his "process".
He added: "I tested the new driver on Monday for the first time. We've gone through at least three or four iterations of the shaft, and this is the most promising one yet. I mean, it looks really promising right now. I did not expect it to work.
"I'm not 100 per cent sure if I'll put it in play yet just because of the unknown; it's so close to the Masters, but it is an improvement if every facet of launch conditions, then I don't see why not.
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"But I'm also going to fail a lot more than I succeed, and I think people are starting to understand that it's not just about me being quirky and doing things in my own way but it's about the process of trying to be better each and every day.
"That's what I hope people can understand, is that it's not necessarily just about me being different or trying different things. It's about me going through a process that will tell me if I'm doing the right thing or not. If I go down a road and it doesn't work, I'll pull myself back out and try something else."
