DeChambeau beats personal par by two to lead Masters with spectacular 65

Bryson DeChambeau. Photo by Scott Taetsch/PGA of America

Bryson DeChambeau fired a spectacular, seven-under 65 to take the Masters lead and admitted he messed up in 2020 when he said Augusta was a “par 67 for me because I can reach all the par fives in two”.

The LIV Golf star came home five under 31 to lead by three shots in the clubhouse from former winner Danny Willett and by four from New Zealand’s Ryan Fox on a blustery day when play was delayed by two-and-a-half hours due to overnight storms.

“I mean, yeah, sure,” said DeChambeau, who was 34th in that November Masters in 2020, where his best effort was a three-under 69 in round three and he was outscored by a 63-year-old by Bernhard Langer in the final round by two shots.

“Again, the comment was definitely misinterpreted. I said it, and I respect people's opinions on it.

“For me, I have a level of respect for this golf course that's a little bit different than a couple years ago, and clearly today was a great test of golf, and I was able to conquer a very difficult golf course today.

“Regarding the 67 comment, you know, you mess up. I'm not a perfect person. Everybody messes up. You learn from your mistake, and that was definitely one.”

DeChambeau birdied the first three holes, knocking in a six-footer at the first before notching chip and putt birdies at the par-five second and short par-four third.

“It's always great getting off to a hot start, three-under through the first three holes kind of gets you settled,” he said.  “I knew it was going to be a tough day today with the wind and even tomorrow. So a lot of patience is required around this golf course and making sure you're just stroking on your line, putting it good, hitting good iron shots and driving it well.  “In order to win major championships, you've got to -- especially out here, you've got to do everything well.”

He got up and down from sand at the fourth and fifth for pars but while he failed to birdie the eighth and bogeyed the ninth to turn in two-under, he raced home in five-under 31.

After brushing in a 17-footer for a two at the 12th, he made a 10-footer for another birdie at the 13th before hitting the shot of the day at the 15th.

Stuck in the trees right, he cut a 228-yard approach over the pond to the narrow left side of the green and shaved the hole with his 40-footer for eagle.

“Yeah, so funny enough I was just trying to get to the back right section of the green, and I pushed it a little bit,” he said.  “It clipped the tree. I hit four pine needles rather than five, and it worked out perfectly. But it was a little scary of a shot. I shouldn't have probably done it, but I took a risk. I was willing to take it. I was rewarded fortunately.

“But, no, I was trying to go to that back right section to have a nice chip back down to that pin kind of where Thor was, and I got lucky. I almost made it, but I'll settle for birdie there any day.”

He admitted he considering punching back to the fairway but didn’t fancy a tricky wedge shot.

“I was, but the wedge shot wasn't going to be any easier for me. You know, especially downwind and greens were getting firm. So it was more of a get it to the back side and try to chip up for me.”

He went on to birdie the 16th from six feet and the 17th from 31 feet to get to seven-under before closing an impressive round with a solid par-four.

As for his 67 comment, he was reluctant to admit he regretted it.

“You're trying to pigeonhole me into saying that again, aren't you (laughter)? I'm not going to comment on that,” he said.

“I'll say, look, I'm going to go out and try to shoot the best score I possibly can. Sure, if you want to line the math up that way, that is a perspective you can take. It was a perspective I had, and it cost me a lot of slack, I guess you could say. It definitely hurt some things.

“But look, I'll say this again. I shot 65 today, and that was one of the best rounds of golf I've played in a long time. There's three more days to go, and I'm not losing sight of that fact; that it's right there in front of me. Just got to go execute.”