Bryson DeChambeau takes the lead at the Memorial Tournament

Bryson DeChambeau has the lead entering the final round of the Memorial Tournament. Can he hold off a host of challengers – including Justin Rose and Tiger Woods – for his second PGA TOUR victory?

Bryson DeChambeau is leading The Memorial Tournament headed into the final round, but he is only one shot ahead of three players, Patrick Cantlay, Kyle Stanley and newcomer Joaquin Niemann. He could have been farther ahead, but his putting let him down.

“Just keep thinking about those two three-footers I missed,” he told reporters after shooting 66. “I played great, obviously.”

However, the closest challengers may not be the biggest threats to DeChambeau’s attempt to win his second PGA Tour title. Tiger Woods is five behind, looking for a comeback victory. Justin Rose is four back and still in good form after winning the Fort Worth Invitational last week.

“I am definitely not taking advantage of how well I’m hitting it,” Woods told media after his third round. “I hit the ball well enough to, shooting in the low 60s could have been pretty easy if I had just had putted normally.”

Justin Rose struggled a bit on the final holes.

“It was tougher coming in, for sure. The wind was coming out of the northeast today, so those holes are playing a little longer,” he said to reporters. However, he pointed out that when he won this tournament previously, he was not in the lead starting Sunday.

Bryson DeChambeau’s scientific approach could help him fix his putting in a hurry

Despite DeChambeau’s putting issues on Saturday, he credited his overall improved putting to Sik Golf’s putters which have what they call descending loft technology. Sik Golf believes their putters put a consistent launch angle on the ball even if the “puttee” doesn’t. They have patented their club design.

A physics major before leaving SMU early to turn pro, DeChambeau is very much into how technology can help him improve his game. He combines the Sik putter with Quintic software to analyze what is hard for any golfer or any human to see: the launch angle of the putter blade.

They call it The Quintic Ball Roll software putting analysis. It uses a high-speed camera that records the putter and ball through impact. The software measures 45 putting parameters and spits out data in graphics and numbers. If you know what to do with it, it can help your game. DeChambeau does.

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“It shows us the launch angles,” DeChambeau explained. “I can be comfortable with how it feels off the face knowing that it’s going to roll the same every single time. So, having that system, as well as confidence in their [Sik Golf] descending loft technology has really helped me to consistently improve over the course of time.”

He’s right about this week at least. He is sixth in putting. Currently DeChambeau is 88^th in putting for the 2018 season. He was 146^th for 2017. That is a demonstrable improvement.

“The only other time that I putted exceptionally well was the U.S. Amateur, and I could probably rival that. I would say I’m putting the best I have in my life,” he insisted.

The science, he says, does not overpower feel for him.

“It’s only an additive, something that aids in my feel. And as they start meshing together and better and better, it’s a system that works beautifully,” he noted.

Can Bryson DeChambeau hold up to a field going crazy for Tiger Woods?

While DeChambeau is confident in his putting and his game at present, he is acutely aware of those who are behind him on the leaderboard. He knows that there will be noise on the course if Woods is doing well, just as there was at the Arnold Palmer Invitational where Woods was also in the hunt.

“I think that’s what spurred on Rory (McIlroy) to win that week,” DeChambeau explained. “After hearing Tiger through 12, I think he was obviously getting up there, and Rory said, I got to get something going, and he went off. And then I played pretty well, as well, consequently of Tiger playing well. But, yeah, it’s definitely a different little vibe. I wouldn’t say that it’s penalizing in a sense, but it does make you think.”

McIlroy, who is six back of the lead, agreed with DeChambeau’s assessment of the Woods factor.

“I think you pay attention to it, you have to,” he said about the Woods gallery noise. “I think it’s there and right in front of you, so you can’t, you’re not oblivious to it.”

Next: Tiger Woods ignites crowds with Memorial surge

However, he said he was a leaderboard watcher anyway.

“Where you are in the golf tournament, what you need to do the next few holes, that’s the most important thing and that’s what you have to concentrate on,” McIlroy noted. “That’s why when people say they don’t look at leaderboards and sometimes don’t know where they are in golf tournaments, I find that crazy.”

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