Masters Diary - Friday
Bryson’s 3-D irons
Bryson DeChambeau might not be everyone’s cup of tea but he’s certainly not boring.
If content creation is your thing, the clubhouse leader at the Masters gave a masterclass in the subject following his opening 65 on Thursday.
“You look at what MrBeast has done, and there’s a few other super famous people right now, Jynxzi and Sketch, and they are growing their avenues and their aspects, and it's cool to see the cross-platforming capabilities,” DeChambeau said as many older scribes scratched their heads.
“Like these individuals coming and playing golf and seeing how much influence they have is really cool. It's just another avenue.”
The Mad Scientist is also playing with a set of irons he designed himself.
Made by the little-known equipment company Avoda, the single-length irons were created using 3-D printing technology and only approved by the USGA on Monday.
To add to the general wackiness of all things Bryson, DeChambeau’s coach Mike Schy told Golfweek the “faces have some bulge to them, they are one-of-a-kind.”
Bada-bing
The annual press conference offered by Masters legends Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson never fails to entertain.
Many topics came up during the 45-minute chat with the media, including their most embarrassing moments.
The Golden Bear described a shank at the 12th that almost hit Bobby Jones. But perhaps his best take was a birthday memory from the Clambake at Pebble Beach.
“In our room, probably eight or ten people are there, and a friend of mine calls, ‘Hey, Jack, happy birthday. Somebody wants to say happy birthday to you,’” Nicklaus recalled.
“And a guy got on the phone and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ all the way through, and I could barely hear and so forth and so on.
"He said, ‘Happy birthday, Jack.’ And I gave it real businesslike, as I might in those days, ‘Who am I speaking with, please.’
“‘It's Bing Crosby, Jack. Happy birthday.’ I'm sitting there listening to Bing Crosby sing ‘Happy Birthday,’ and I don't even know it.”
Player’s distance rant
Gary Player never fails to mention his fitness regime and his belief that “under-eating” is the secret to his longevity.
But the 88-year-old didn’t miss his chance to talk about another favourite theme — golf’s distance problem and his desire to the governing bodies roll back the golf ball by 50-60 yards.
“Where are we going, you look at the Tour, in 30 years, plus, minus, they will all hit the ball 400 yards because there's such great incentivisation,” he said.
“They are going around the college gyms now doing weight training. Rory McIlroy showed me yesterday, he does a dead lift, 400 pounds.
“So this is where we are going, and this is where we need the R&A and the USGA and the PGA to get together wisely in making a decision about a golf ball because golf is -- nothing about the game today, not one single thing, is the same as when we played. Not one single thing. “And so we've got to cut the ball back 60 yards, 50 yards. Otherwise, the whole concept of the game, the history of the game, the par 5, par 4, par 3, that's gone.
“There are no more par 5s. These young guys are hitting 8-irons to par 5s. So we are changing the whole history of the game. Now, they are two different games, the R&A never agreed with me that they are two different games, professional and amateur. Go watch Jack Nicklaus in his prime or Tom or Tiger. You'll see how different it is to the way you guys play.”
Masters shopping
Multiple media outlets are reporting that the Masters golf shop will do $70 million in business this week but the true figure is likely much more.
The $1 million-an-hour estimate is for the seven days of the Masters Tournament week but that doesn’t include the Augusta National Women’s Amateur or the merchandise sold at Berckmans Place, the hospitality centre near the fifth green.
All told, the figure could be closer to $100 million and a nett profit of at least $40 million given the cost of purchasing the products and paying an army of sales people to man the shops from dawn to dusk.
