Behind Bryson's Putting
First, let’s start by congratulating Bryson DeChambeau, my pick to win this week, on an otherwise impressive performance at the US Open. Yes, there is proof in a facility e-mail that I did in fact pick Bryson to win this weekend.
How did I happen to get this right? Well, I may have put his remarkable distance off the tee as the main reason, but there’s a bit more to it than that. Want to know the real reason?
His putting… and a little luck.
Yes, I selected the guy who bulked up 50 pounds and resembles an upset Bruce Banner on the strength of his putting. See what I did there? Strength? Anyway…
Here are some of the things that I found out one Saturday night while sipping on my protein shake. Please judge my social life and aspirations to hit it farther later.
Since the restart of the 2020 season at the Charles Schwab, Bryson has:
Gained strokes for the week in 7 of those 10 starts
Gained 26 strokes during that stretch
Finished inside the top 10 in SGP for the week 4 times
Finished outside the top 30 in SGP for the week only twice in made cuts
Gained more than 1 stroke in 16 of those rounds (44%)
Only lost more than 1 stroke in 4 of those rounds (11%)
Sound impressive? That’s because it is. If you need a refresher on what Strokes Gained Putting is, click here.
He has shown a tremendous upside on the greens thus far this year, a necessity for contending at a US Open. Don’t believe me? Your last two Champions, Gary Woodland and Brooks Koepka, finished 4th and 3rd respectively in SGP those years.
So how well did Bryson do this week? He gained 4.356 strokes for the week. Add that sort of performance on the green to hitting it as far as he does and you have your 2020 US Open Champion. FAQs About BDC's Putting
I’ll take a minute to paraphrase some questions that people have asked me about his putting here to wrap things up.
Q: Why is he so good on the greens?
A: Statistically, he doesn’t 3 putt. It only happens about 2% of the time, good for top 40. When you hit as many greens as he does, that’s pretty good. He finished 10th in SGP last year, so the start to this year shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
Q: What was the “secret” to this week?
A: Thinking back to coverage this week, though I didn’t see all of it, I can’t really recall him having to work hard to avoid 3 putts. Especially on Sunday… at a US Open… Talk about good speed. Q: What’s with the setup?
A: If I had a birdie for every time I was asked this one…
Here’s the deal. There are some players that will perform very well building a setup and stroke pattern with low variability. While not for everyone, you had better believe that he has found a setup and movement pattern to hit it where he wants. That goes back to good face management. Q: Can I fix my putting by learning from him?
A: Yes
Q: What should I learn from him?
A: Everyone remember The Putting Priorities? They’re in my free e-book, 3 Things to Know. You should probably start there if you had a rough time on the greens this weekend or just need to get better in general. There’s very few concrete things that all golfers need to do to produce results. 3 of them in fact… Remember that e-book title?
The Skills Class offers some pretty essential information for golfers of all skill sets. It tackles The Putting Priorities that make a ball go in. Before you go chasing single length irons and a long, arm lock putter, consider how valuable adding some skills to your performance might be. Click the picture below to learn more about The Skills Class and get started!
Cover Photo Credit: USGA
Thanks Sam and Paxton for taking a look prior to publishing!
