Perhaps the driver had simply had enough.
Bryson DeChambeau’s driver, which has been launching golf balls into orbit for the better part of two months, broke during the first round of play at the PGA Championship.
It happened on the semi-driveable 7th hole at TPC Harding Park. DeChambeau, two-under at the time, swung as hard as he could in an attempt to get the ball close to the green on the 340-yard-hole. After hitting his drive well right, DeChambeau put the club down to bear some of his 110 kilograms as he picked up the tee. It snapped right where the clubhead meets the shaft.
Rickie Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau were equally stunned when the driver broke.
(Via ESPN) pic.twitter.com/VxAJT7XnVO
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) August 6, 2020
The good news for DeChambeau: he could replace it. Under rule 4.1, a player is entitled to replace a damaged club so long as it is damaged in the course of play. If he had smashed it in anger, though, he would not be allowed to replace it.
More good news for DeChambeau: he had a backup waiting in the wings. After discussing the incident with a rules official, he sent his manager to go get the backup, which was waiting in a car. Pleased with the news, DeChambeau headed up the fairway and joked to a cameraman that “it must be all the swings.”
File this under things you don’t see every day at a Major championship.
