U.S. Amateur champion DeChambeau leads in Abu Dhabi with 64
Not bad for a self-described intern.
U.S. Amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau leads the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship after a first-round, 8-under 64 leaves the pro-in-waiting ahead of Henrik Stenson, returning from off-season meniscus surgery, by a shot.
Rory McIlroy, making his 2016 debut, is two shots back of DeChambeau. World No. 1 Jordan Spieth shot 4-under 68 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
DeChambeau, who is in the field on a sponsor’s invitation, calls himself a “professional intern,” as he has stepped away from his senior season at Southern Methodist University in the wake of NCAA sanctions against the golf program that prevent him from defending the men’s individual golf championship he won last May. He’s been playing around the world through the fall, including playing in the Argentina Open and the Australian Masters, where he finished runner-up.
The native Californian naturally draws attention as just the fifth-ever player to win the U.S. Amateur and the NCAA individual championship in the same year. However, he piques even more interest because of the equipment in his bag. A disciple of Homer Kelley’s “The Golfing Machine,” DeChambeau plays irons that are all the length of a 7-iron (37.5 inches), all have the same weight, lie angle and bounce and each carrying super-oversized grips. DeChambeau compromises some distance for accuracy because he can make the same swing with each of his irons.
He also has two drivers, dubbing one the Fairway Finder and the other Crank Ball. He puts his golf balls in an Epsom salt bath to figure out which of his golf balls are best.
Odd? Maybe. But, it’s all clearly working for a man who also calls himself the “golf scientist.”
“I’m an intern. I’ve learned to believe in myself,” said DeChambeau, who adopted the bag makeup and accompanying philosophy in 2011. “That’s the ticket. It happened at the NCAAs and I’m just growing that confidence, that belief each and every single day. Today definitely helped.”
This is just DeChambeau’s seventh pro start, but the physics major isn’t carrying himself like a meek rookie.
“Why be nervous?” he said. “There’s no expectations. I’m not worried about anything. If I hit a bad shot I’ve got an opportunity to show my grace and my character. In that situation, there’s no downside to it.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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