Memorial’s reversal on fans highlights struggle

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DUBLIN, Ohio – Bryson DeChambeau knew he was in for a long climb back. He hadn’t played competitively since shooting a second-round 80 to miss the cut at the Masters, after which he underwent surgery on a fractured hamate bone in his left hand about 90 minutes southwest of Columbus on April 14. Not until this week, at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday at Muirfield Village, where he won in 2018, could he even play without pain. The fact that he shot 76-77 to miss the cut? He was sort of expecting it. “I hit it down the fairway,” he said of his first shot in competition in nearly two months. “I was, like, all right, cool. Still have my game somewhat. As the day went on, there were some mis-hits and shots that just didn’t feel right. With my golf swing, hand felt great. No issues with that. “But it just didn’t feel like the old me of 2018 like I used to,” he added, “and so there’s a lot of work I have to do to get back to top form and climb that mountain again. I’m excited to do so.” Confined to just five starts coming into this week DeChambeau had missed three cuts and failed to get out of his group at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Part of the problem was his hand, which he hurt when he fell while playing table tennis in February. He was also fighting a torn labrum in his left hip, an injury he sustained when he fell on concrete while speed training a few years back. Hand surgery at the renowned Kettering Medical Center in Ohio, plus time off, has helped. Although DeChambeau said the bone in his hand has not fully healed and won’t for another two months, and he feels pain when it jars the club into the ground in just the wrong way, he said the muscles around it are getting stronger. What’s more, he added, he’s been told he can’t re-break it. He hopes to be all-systems go by the U.S. Open in Boston in two weeks. “I’m comfortable going after it again,” he said, “whereas before it was tough because it’s like, man, I was grinding so hard and I wasn’t figuring stuff out. It can just beat you down. But taking a little bit of time off, unscheduled, it was actually good for my mental health and being able to look back and appreciate the grind and the journey I’ve always enjoyed going through.” Of his opening round here, he said, “First 18 holes that I have really completed without any pain and any thought of the hand in seven months. It’s a long process for me, but I’m excited to see where this next part of my life takes me. I’m pretty stoked. “I know I’ll have a lot of work ahead of me,” he added, “but I’m not afraid of it.” Other notables to miss the cut: Collin Morikawa – Had six top-10s in his first eight starts this season, but five-time PGA TOUR winner has fallen back since then and shot 71-77 with a new putter at Muirfield Village. Matt Fitzpatrick – Came into the Memorial on a hot streak after a T5 at the PGA Championship and T2 at the Wells Fargo Championship, but 74-73 at Muirfield was one shot too many. Harris English – Making his first PGA TOUR start since right hip surgery to repair a torn labrum in February, was understandably rusty as he shot 77-77. William McGirt – Also battling a hip injury and playing on a medical extension, the 2016 Memorial champion got off to a solid start with a 69 but fell back with a second-round 78.

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