Bryson DeChambeau dominates in win at THE NORTHERN TRUST

Bryson DeChambeau cruised to victory at The Northern Trust, winning by four shots in the first 2018 FedEx Cup Playoff event. He also joined an elite group of golfers with this victory.

Bryson DeChambeau has blazed his own trail to the top of the golf world. By now, the story of the “mad scientist” is well-known around the golf world. While the questions followed him everywhere – does it really work to have all your irons cut to the same length? – now the results speak for themselves.

DeChambeau claimed The NORTHERN TRUST on Sunday, maintaining a comfortable four-shot lead throughout the 2018 FedEx Cup Playoff opener. It was the next step in the evolution of one of the sport’s greatest young talents, even if the road to get here wasn’t nearly as easy as the scoreboard at Ridgewood would have indicated.

For a guy who comes across as remarkably even-keeled, there have been more than a few surprising situations for DeChambeau to deal with this year. There was the hilarious non-controversy when the USGA proclaimed his use of a drawing compass to be “unusual equipment” and banned it.

There was the driving range blowup at Carnoustie, which allegedly included DeChambeau tossing clubs as he continued to tinker with his swing mechanics. And, just a week later, there was the Sunday self-destruction at the Porsche European Open, where he dropped five shots in the final four holes to finish (painfully) five shots out of a playoff.

As if that wasn’t enough, golf’s social media then overwhelmingly blasted him for giving – get this – too short of a handshake to winner Richard McEvoy. Thanks, Twitter.

For a lot of 24-year-old pros, that would have been enough to sink into a deep funk. But for DeChambeau, each setback or struggle, no matter how major, has been a learning experience. And as he continues to build on those instances, he’s quickly maturing into a powerful force on the PGA TOUR.

Bryson DeChambeau’s win at THE NORTHERN TRUST was his second of the year, and also a remarkable eighth top-ten in 2018. Unlike the meltdown in Germany just a month ago, this time DeChambeau went into closer mode.

The FedEx Cup Playoffs are never a cakewalk, but take a look at some of the contenders that DeChambeau held off down the stretch in Paramus. Tony Finau finished in second place after shooting a Sunday 68. A resurgent Adam Scott finished six back. The trio of Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Cantlay all tied for eighth – seven shots off the pace.

DeChambeau had a comfortable lead, but he couldn’t afford even half of the immolation that he endured in July. The difference between a great talent and a top champion in golf is the ability to close, to follow each great shot with another. That’s exactly what he was able to do on Sunday.

DeChambeau has also benefited a great deal from a blossoming relationship with none other than Tiger Woods. Woods, of course, has rebuilt his swing from the ground up no fewer than three times since joining the tour 20-plus years ago, and the two share a passion for the various ins and outs of the golf swing mechanic.

While the Woods of even five or ten years ago likely wouldn’t have given out any secrets, lest he become even infinitesimally less dominant, this is something of a big brother-little brother relationship. It probably also doesn’t hurt DeChambeau that Woods is an assistant captain for this year’s Ryder Cup.

To take it a bit further, keep in mind that DeChambeau has been a pro for just over two years. He won the NCAA Championship in June of 2015 as a member of the Southern Methodist University team. Two months later, he brought home the U.S. Amateur championship, which led to his earning low am honors at the 2016 Masters.

After Sunday’s victory, he now has three PGA TOUR wins to go along with those accolades, making him just the fourth player in history to accomplish those feats before turning 25. Take a look at this company.

You’re looking at three of the all-time greatest to play the game of golf – and Bryson DeChambeau right alongside them.

Obviously, it would be silly to say that DeChambeau is “destined” to end up in the same rarefied air that those three currently occupy, but the question you should be asking yourself is the same one that Bryson asks when he approaches anything new in golf.

Why not?

He’s already redefined the way golf “should” be played, and made it work at the highest level. If he continues down this path, we might be comparing young players in a decade or two to him.