FedExCup Update: Merritt moves from BMW bubble to top of THE NORTHERN TRUST leaderboard

"It was crazy. It was nuts. It was unbelievable." That was Rory McIlroy's reaction when he played with Bryson DeChambeau in the first event after the PGA TOUR season resumed. McIlroy got a front-row seat to see the transformed DeChambeau in the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. McIlroy doesn't lack for length, but several of DeChambeau's tee shots caused McIlroy's jaw to drop. "He hit a couple drives on Sunday that Harry (Diamond, McIlroy's caddie) and I just looked at each other, and we're like, ‘Holy (expletive), that was unbelievable,'" McIlroy said that day. DeChambeau's driving will be on full display at this week's Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Not only is this his first start since he became a major champion, but it was at last year's Shriners that DeChambeau announced his intention to bulk up in search of bigger drives. DeChambeau will be paired in the first two rounds with two of the TOUR's biggest hitters, as well. He will play Thursday and Friday with Cameron Champ and Matthew Wolff. The numbers say that DeChambeau is the longest hitter on TOUR. This week provides the opportunity to produce some eyewitness testimony. Champ is the man DeChambeau supplanted atop the PGA TOUR's driving distance ranking. Champ led that statistic in 2019 with an average measured drive of 317.9 yards before DeChambeau nipped him by one-tenth of a yard in 2020 (322.1 yards to 322.0). This is the first time DeChambeau and Champ have been paired in a PGA TOUR event. Champ and Wolff have never been paired together, either. DeChambeau and Wolff have faced each other on a pair of Sundays since the season resumed. They finished 1-2 in the Rocket Mortgage Classic - DeChambeau's first win after bulking up — and were in the final group of the recent U.S. Open. That Sunday at Winged Foot is the only time DeChambeau and Wolff have played together on the PGA TOUR. Though DeChambeau has the advantage in most driving statistics, Wolff showed that he is capable of getting it past the TOUR’s driving-distance leader. The most notable occurence came on Winged Foot’s ninth hole, where both players made eagle. DeChambeau’s tee shot went 375 yards but Wolff hit it 13 yards past him. Their contrasting styles and the friendship between their coaches that was formed on a short, scruffy public course in Southern California has created an interesting storyline. DeChambeau is a devotee of physics. Wolff creates speed with a unique, athletic move that is a carry-over from his baseball days. Their coaches, Chris Como and George Gankas, have become two of the game's hottest coaches after getting their start at the 5,000-yard Westlake Golf Course. Wolff, who last year became the first player since Tiger Woods to win the NCAA individual title and a PGA TOUR event in the same year, has finished in the top four in the last two majors as he's shown an increased consistency to go along with his incredible length. Before this trio slugs it out at TPC Summerlin, let's take a look at the tale of the tape. You’ll see that DeChambeau leads almost every distance-related stat, but now he gets to go toe-to-toe with two of his closest competitors and prove it on the course. First, let’s start with the traditional stats. Because this new season is so young, we used the final stats from the 2020 season to compare their performance off the tee. Average driving distance is calculated from the tee shots on two pre-determined holes per round; the two driving-distance holes often run in opposite directions, to mitigate the effect of wind, and are longer holes where players are expected to hit driver. Driving distance (all) measures every tee shot a player hits on a par-4 or par-5. Next, let’s look at what the launch monitors reveal about these players’ long drives. Despite using a 5-degree driver, DeChambeau hit the highest tee shots on TOUR last year. So, it should be no surprise that he also led the TOUR in carry distance. His average carry distance of 314.1 yards is 9.5 yards longer than the No. 2 player in that statistic, Ryan Brehm. Champ, meanwhile, hits low lasers that roll out. The average apex of his drives is 42 feet lower than DeChambeau’s. Champ could have the advantage if conditions are firm and fast this week, while DeChambeau’s high-flying tee shots could benefit from the dry desert air and the fact that TPC Summerlin is nearly 1,900 feet above sea level. Champ led the TOUR in both average clubhead speed and ball speed last season, but DeChambeau’s max effort in both stats was the highest on TOUR. For reference, the TOUR’s average clubhead speed was 114 mph last season and the average ball speed was 169.7 mph. ShotLink data also allows us to look at the percentage of tee shots that are hit a certain length. ‘Measured’ means tee shots that are hit on the two holes used to measure driving distance (see above) and ‘all’ means tee shots on every par-4 and par-5. ‘Percentage covered by tee shots’ measures what percentage of the length on par-4s and par-5s a player covered off the tee. For example, a player who hits a 300-yard tee shot on a 400-yard hole has covered 75% of the hole with his tee shot.

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Welcome to Numbers to Know, where we’ll take a look a closer look at Justin Thomas’ victory in the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. This was Thomas’ 13th career victory and second World Golf Championships title. 1. BETTER BY THE DOZEN: Twelve of Thomas’ 13 wins have come in the past four seasons. No one else is close to him in that span. 2. COMEBACK TRAIL: Thomas started the final round in fifth place, four shots behind 54-hole leader Brendon Todd. Thomas shot 65 on Sunday, the second-lowest round of the day, to win by three shots. It was the biggest comeback of his career. He’s held the 54-hole lead in eight of his wins, and this was just the second time he’s won when trailing by more than two shots entering the final round. The four-shot deficit he overcame Sunday matched the largest of his career. He started the final round in fifth place, his lowest leaderboard position entering the final round of any of his wins. “It was a hard-fought day, but it meant a lot … how we did it, being four behind to start the day,” Thomas said. “I haven’t exactly played well coming from behind in the past and I feel like I learned a lot from that.” 3. HAT TRICK: This was Thomas’ third win of the season. He’s now collected three or more wins in three of the past four seasons (2017, 2018, 2020). Since 1983, only Tiger Woods has had more seasons with three-plus wins before turning 28. Thomas’ three seasons of three-plus wins also are the fourth-most since 1990. The only players with more? Woods (13), Phil Mickelson (5) and Vijay Singh (4). And Thomas is only 27 years old, with plenty of time to add more. 4. SOLID APPROACH: Brooks Koepka may have fallen short Sunday, but he showed promising signs as he goes for the three-peat at the PGA Championship. Koepka led the St. Jude field in greens hit and Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. This was the third time in Koepka’s career that he led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach. The other two times were majors. This was Koepka’ best performance in Strokes Gained: Approach since his win in last year’s PGA Championship. 5. ON A ROLL: Matthew Fitzpatrick and Bryson DeChambeau finished 1-2 in Strokes Gained: Putting, which should be no surprise. They’ve been among the TOUR’s top putters since the season resumed. Fitzpatrick finished sixth at TPC Southwind, his second consecutive top-10. He’s finished T32 or better in five of his last six starts. He’s also finished in the top five in Strokes Gained: Putting four times since the season resumed. DeChambeau, on the other hand, finished T30 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude. This came on the heels of a missed cut at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, which ended his streak of seven consecutive top-10s.

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