LAS VEGAS – Bryson DeChambeau was beaming from ear to ear as he cranked hard on the famous Las Vegas Knights air horn on Saturday night. The local National Hockey League crowd was whipped into a frenzy as the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open 54-hole co-leader used all his strength to elicit the famous sound. It was a fun moment for DeChambeau, particularly as his brother and his friends, plus his mother were in town. Until the adrenaline wore off and he looked down to see a blister on his right hand had been torn open. Then the anxiety set in. Just hours earlier DeChambeau had signed for a third round 6-under 65 to move into a tie with Peter Uihlein at TPC Summerlin as he chased a fifth PGA TOUR title and fourth since June. Now his hand was ripped up and perhaps with it … his chances. “I went a little too hard on the air horn and I ripped part my hand off,â€� DeChambeau confirmed after playing the final round taped up. “I was freaking out. I actually put Nu-Skin on it this morning and it dried up and dried my hands too quickly. Then I opened my hand and it cracked and split. “So now I’m like, wow, I’m really in some do-do.â€� When he arrived at the course Sunday he had the on-site trainers wrap it up. During his warm up he knew it was going to be another obstacle he would have to overcome. “Every time I clenched my fist a little bit too hard or hit a shot that was a little bit too steep I definitely felt a pull on it,â€� he said. But he convinced himself it was manageable. And as it turned out. He need not worry. DeChambeau is one of the hottest golfers in the world right now. His final round 5-under 66 was enough to best defending champion Patrick Cantlay by a shot and notch up his fifth career win. It was his third title in five starts on the PGA TOUR to go with his FedExCup Playoff wins at THE NORTHERN TRUST and the Dell Technologies Championship and was his fourth win since June where he took out The Memorial Tournament. In hindsight, the blister may have been a blessing. It gave him one singular focus instead of scattered thoughts and helped him to now be three for three in closing out 54-hole leads. He said he wouldn’t change the moment if he could, thanking the NHL team for their hospitality and the opportunity to be part of the game in such a unique way. “The Knights won last night. That’s all that matters, right?â€� DeChambeau smiled. “I gave that thing a whirl and got the crowd pumped up for the third quarter and they went on to win, so, hey, more power to them and more power to me I guess. I won this week too so it’s not a bad deal.â€� Winning is certainly becoming a habit for DeChambeau. He moved to fifth in the FedExCup and the world rankings with his latest triumph. No longer do we need to talk about his methods being quirky… instead we talk about them being effective. The proof is in the pudding. Single length irons. They work for him and can no doubt work for others. Calculating every variable possible to decide on a shot – be it wind, slope, barometric pressure, gravity, altitude, adrenaline … you name it. It works for him. “Bryson is always going to do things that other people don’t. That’s part of what makes him special,â€� Rickie Fowler said. “It’s kind of what makes him tick. It works well for him. He’s obviously a great player and he’s had a lot of success in the past year.â€� And being neurologically comfortable … yeah, his words … that works for him. But when asked to explain it? “No. That’s a secret,â€� he says. “I would say just on a general basis that it’s something that I’ve derived in my brain. It’s like I have this black space and it’s just of my hands and arms and body and I see it and I just take it back and have this neurological sensation or input that I have for applying force to the club. “There is a track to it. I see it and in that vision. Some people look and envision shots, do all that, but I just create it in my brain.â€� Some of you are still thinking he’s wacko. Some think he’s stranger than fiction. But the five trophies on his mantle are as real as anything. And the more time you spend with him, the more he can convince you. “I think this sport’s unique in that you don’t have to have too great of a reaction time,â€� he explains. “You have to be able to set things up properly. You’re not having a ball thrown at you, you’re not having to run down the court, you’re not having to judge where a puck is, if it’s coming at you. “The ball is sitting right there and you’re able to swing at it and hit it wherever you want to. You can take 40 seconds or whatever to hit it. So that time allows us the opportunity to do some pretty cool things that I will not give away.â€� A quick-fire poll of other players finishing had a consistent theme – they felt they probably couldn’t do things the way DeChambeau does. But innovators are always thought crazy in the beginning. Disrupters disrupt, but some of them change the world. Could this be the start of something bigger? “Well, they could. They’re just selling themselves short,â€� DeChambeau says of other players. “More power to everyone that does it their own way. Everybody is unique. Everybody does it in a different way. I believe I found a way that works really, really well for me and it allows me to be super consistent week in and week out. “You know what? I hope down the road it’ll keep happening. You never know. But so far it’s proven itself quite a bit.â€� Indeed it has.
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