Bryson DeChambeau's "Hands Are Wrecked" Right Before The Ryder Cup... Because of Preparation For The World Long Drive Championships

Sean M. Haffey. Getty Images.

Golf.com Unlike the rest of his Tour peers who were focused solely on winning the FedEx Cup and making a last-ditch effort to impress U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, DeChambeau has been juggling an extra ball since he announced his involvement in the long drive event, becoming the first full-time PGA Tour pro to compete in Nevada.

DeChambeau has aspirations of competing at the highest level in both arenas, which is why he’s been increasing his speed training sessions and making trips to remote parts of North Carolina to go through “two-a-days” — two 90-plus-minute speed training sessions in the same day — and glean insights from other members of the long drive community at Bobby Peterson’s One Stop Power Shop. (It’s hard not to think of Rocky getting ready for Drago in the wilds of Siberia.)

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While the long drive atmosphere might be a getaway of sorts for DeChambeau, it’s proving to be equally as grueling (mentally and physically) as his Tour gig — if not more so. The tape on his hands from his speed training sessions is proof that he’s pushing himself to new limits to gain more speed.

“My hands are wrecked from it,” DeChambeau said as he showed off calluses on his palms. “People don’t realize how difficult long drive really is. In golf, it’s the one thing where you can judge your accomplishments by a number. Not necessarily by going out and playing golf, because you can catch a sprinkler head or catch a bad break or bad wind. On Flightscope, you can see the ball speed number. And when you obtain a ball speed number, it’s so different and unique. It’s like a shot-putter shot-putting a new record number. You’re trying to find that full potential to break through.”  

I mean… what the hell are we even doing here? I'm all for Bryson going full beef boy and going for speed. The way he's changed the way people think about golf and has done it with major success has been nothing but good for the game. Didn't necessarily love him signing up for this World Long Drive thing right after the Ryder Cup, but figured it was something he'd just show up at, smile for the cameras, hit a few golf balls, and be on his merry way.

That was pretty fucking naïve of me, huh? Everything this guy does, he goes full send on. Whether it's his workout regimens or long range sessions or his quirky calculations, Bryson is incredibly extra. So it was stupid of me to think that he wasn't going to throw himself into this long drive thing 100%. This is a road he's been on for a long time and it was inevitable that he was going to give himself a go at one of these things.

Obvvvviously this is a problem because the Ryder Cup is right around the corner. Bryson will probably tell you that it's not an issue because speed is something he's always chasing, week in and week out on Tour. There's some underlying truth to that, but when it starts to deteriorate your hands, you might be taking it a touch too far. And I know these guys' hands are conditioned to take a beating. But Bryson himself is admitting it's above and beyond the usual scope and that people don't realize what these long drive guys go through.

More problematic than anything is the optics of the whole thing. 98% of the year, the optics of anything for a PGA Tour golfer is something that one person (or team, if you like to do the whole Spieth "team" thing) has to live with. Bryson, for better or worse, has cemented a reputation as a guy who does what he wants and lives with the consequences after. Generally speaking, I respect the hell out of that. Society needs more of that. Golf needs a LOT more of that. 

But the Ryder Cup is a different animal. It's the ONE week every two years where what you say and do matters to the other 11 guys (and captain, and entire country for that matter) around you. When you're putting out a perception that you don't have your eye on the ball, you're putting undue pressure on everyone around you. You open yourself up to all kinds of judgment both inside that locker room and outside of it. The very first time Bryson blows a putt way past the hole in foursomes, his partner is going to have that seed of doubt planted in the back of his head as he tries to make the comebacker that his teammate didn't prepare properly. That his partner's blistered hands were the reason why he's gotta sweat over that 6 footer to halve the hole. Scenarios like that are inevitable and it's bullshit, man. The Americans are under all kinds of pressure playing at home and having lost 7 out of 9, they don't need any more of it.

Steve Stricker is in a tough spot. He's gotta do something to try to reel this in, but he runs the risk of upsetting one of his best players that he's going to need at a long course. He's also gotta figure out what player on his team is mentally fit to let this type of thing roll of his back. Sitting Bryson for the entire team portion is a poor strategy and not really an option. So for better or worse, this is just something we're going to have to deal with. Any time you lose one of these things, it's finger-point city. If the Americans are on the wrong side of it and Bryson isn't piling up points, he's gonna be the first one blamed.