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New year, same old Bryson DeChambeau.
Only five days into 2021, the US Open champion is already up to his headline-grabbing antics, this time at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Ahead of the first PGA Tour event of the year getting underway in Hawaii on Thursday, DeChambeau was spotted on the practise green doing something characteristically unusual.
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With his caddie Tim Tucker watching on, the American was seen hitting putts towards a tee peg. Nothing strange about that… until you consider the person he had holding an umbrella in front of the ball all the way until its final resting spot.
Check out the footage…
What is happening here? pic.twitter.com/9MlPW2U9Tt
— Rick Gehman (@RickRunGood) January 5, 2021
Confused? You’re not alone.
Even by Bryson’s standards – a guy who has previously had people spritz his golf balls on the range to simulate early morning dew – this is an odd one.
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Naturally, social media users were quick to chime in with speculation as to what, exactly, he’s trying to achieve with this drill.
Testing the suns radioactive rays’ (versus no radioactive rays) impact on the speed of a 5 foot putt
— fb2 (@fdbii) January 5, 2021
Fire Ant Protection. Bryson watched some tape in the offseason and realized this would have helped in 2020. I give the guy credit for always fine tuning his craft.
— BD5 Frye (@5FryeMoments) January 5, 2021
Looks like a branding exercise to me
— Robbus (@robjob1234) January 5, 2021
It's because of the paparazzi in Maui
— philneedscoffee (@philpet33368300) January 5, 2021
Umbrella curling?
— Squirrell (@Squimshady54) January 6, 2021
It’s performance art!
— Paul Reid (@PaulRei14029125) January 5, 2021
DeChambeau faces the media in Hawaii later today, so we can presumably look forward to an answer before too long.
Meantime, speaking to the Golf Channel on-site at Kapalua yesterday, the big-hitting 27-year-old revealed that he has his sights set on breaking a tour record this week.
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The longest recorded drive in the history of the PGA Tour was a 476-yard poke by Davis Love III on the 18th hole of the Plantation Course in 2004. On a course renowned for drives of more than 400 yards, DeChambeau naturally fancies his chances of setting a new mark.
“Let’s be honest, that would be a lot of fun,” he said.
Time will tell but, as ever, it’s shaping up to be another fascinating year in DeChambeau-land.
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