“MY ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO CARRY THE BALL 400 YARDS”

Bryson DeChambeau’s brutal assault on the US Open won him his first Major in emphatic style. Now he has Augusta firmly in his sights...

- Brian Wacker

Bryson DeChambeau’s eyes light up and a devilishly happy smile stretches across his broad face. In an instant he has suddenly transformed, from the incredible bulk to a 12-year-old boy at Christmas. Only DeChambeau’s will come in November and it won’t be rung in by a jolly fat guy in a red coat, but rather by a cadre of serious men in Green Jackets.

Just the mere mention of The Masters and Augusta National is enough to turn golf’s mad scientist giddy. Imagine once he steps on to the 1st tee at Augusta? “Oh my god, there are so many holes that I can let loose on,” he recently told Golf Monthly. “I haven’t played there since I’ve added all this length. I’ll go back a few weeks before [The Masters] to prepare. I can’t wait.”

And why not? Since packing on 40 pounds of muscle over the last 12 months thanks to an extreme workout routine and a daily diet of – is your stomach ready for this? – four eggs, five strips of bacon, toast, two protein shakes, a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and protein bars, snacks, two more protein shakes, steak, potatoes and (you guessed it) two more protein shakes, the now six-foot-one 240-pound DeChambeau has altered his body and in turn the trajectory of his game, literally and figuratively. The 26-year-old has gone from a moderately long hitter to the game’s longest player, leading the PGA Tour in driving distance at just over 321 yards a pop during the 2019-20 season. That’s the result of a swing speed of 140mph, a ball speed teetering on 200mph and the equivalent aggressiveness of a jackhammer on asphalt.