DeChambeau Not a Fan of PGA Championship’s Long Drive Contest

The 2019 PGA Championship is underway currently at the Bethpage course in Bethpage NY. For the last two weeks the golf media world has been flooded with a certain sign that stresses the difficulty of this course. “-WARNING- The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers”. From twitter posts to television intros and even a few special edition wardrobe designs the sign has been well advertised. It makes sense that a course with this type of difficulty would be the host site for a PGA Championship.

A warning sign welcomes golfers who dare beside the tee on the par 4,…

A warning sign welcomes golfers who dare beside the tee on the par 4, 1st hole on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park, venue for the 2009 US Open Championship, on September 23, 2008 in Bethpage,… Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Bryson has one complaint with the course. Its playing way to long. DeChambeau opened the first round of the PGA Championship with a two over 72. He went on to tell Golf Channels Will Gray “If you really want to prove who the best champion is, it’s not a long-drive contest”. Currently Bryson ranks 44^th in driving distance, averaging around 301 yards from the tee. Compared to current tournament leader Brooks Koepka who averages 308 yards its not like Bryson is that far off.

Bryson DeChambeau in action on No 1 tee during Saturday play at…

Bryson DeChambeau in action on No 1 tee during Saturday play at Augusta National. Kohjiro Kinno TK3 ) Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Bethpage played 7,406 yards on Thursday with an average score of 73.064. It wasn’t the distance that hurt Bryson as much as it was his 8 of 14 fairways. It’s a major championship so the ruff has been grown out. Anyone who misses almost half of the fairways during a major championship would be a little frustrated.

“You just can’t make golf courses that long with guys on the lower end of the stick driving it 275,280,290 and then hitting hybrids into the greens” he told Gray.

Bryson has the length to play these courses, so I think he’s trying to speak up for the shorter hitters on the tour. Distance will always be factor for players who are shorter from the tee. After Koepka’s opening round 63 and new course record, everyone else will be playing for 2^nd anyway.

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