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DETROIT – He’d packed on 40 pounds of muscle, and now Bryson DeChambeau kept saying he wanted to be the house, as in the casino, because the house always wins. Or often wins. Or something like that. Still, there was a sliver of doubt. Would outdriving everyone by 30-50 yards a hole inevitably yield trophies? Well, not inevitably, but, you know, would it work? Could it work? It could, and it has. RELATED: Final leaderboard “It’s a little emotional for me,” DeChambeau said after firing a 7-under 65 to beat Matthew Wolff (71) by three at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at sun-splashed Detroit Golf Club. “Because I did do something a little different, I changed my body, I changed my mindset in the game, and was able to accomplish a win while playing a completely different style of golf.” For the fourth week in a row the tournament was played in front of no fans due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but that’s not to say there wasn’t a crowd. A large group of Black Lives Matters demonstrators could be heard marching outside the club gates as the golfers played on. “I love that everybody is voicing their opinion,” DeChambeau said. “And they deserve to do so.” The soundtrack was a stark contrast to the telltale twinkle of the Mr. Softee ice cream truck, which Wolff had credited for his stellar play Saturday. He will try to quickly forget his ghastly front nine in the final round, and almost rendered it moot with an array of fine shots on the back. Wolff birdied 12, 13 and 15 to cut the lead to one, but DeChambeau birdied his last three holes to leave no doubt. “I’ve shown people that there’s another way to do it,” he said. It was his sixth career win and seventh straight top-10 finish. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, and not only led in driving distance, too, but his 350.6-yard average for two measured holes was the highest number by a winner in the ShotLink era. DeChambeau is playing such a different game he had the honor at the 399-yard 13th hole but had to wait for the green to clear – he let playing partner Troy Merritt hit first, instead. “He’s changed the entire way the game is played,” said Kevin Kisner (66, solo third, five back). Wolff is another disrupter with his unorthodox swing, and he was all smiles for the first three rounds, when his 25 birdies and eagles were the most of any player at any tournament this season. But it took him too long to find his game in the final round, by which time DeChambeau could sense the finish line. “Yeah, it was definitely a grind out there,” Wolff said after birdies on four of his last seven holes. “Didn’t start off really well at all, wasn’t hitting it how I was the beginning of the week, and feel like I was really getting some bad breaks as well, which was pretty unfortunate.” Still, it was his first top-10 finish since his maiden TOUR win at the 3M Open a year ago. “Bryson played great,” he said. “Seven under, you know – it’s not like I gave it to him. He definitely earned it. Kudos to him.” Said DeChambeau, “I was kind of in my own world today.” Danny Willett (66), Adam Hadwin (67), Tyrrell Hatton (67) and Ryan Armour (72) tied for fourth, seven back. Wolff’s back-nine surge got more interesting when DeChambeau got in trouble off the tee and pitched out into the hazard at the par-5 14th, leading to bogey. But in the end, there was too much front-nine damage to undue even for the explosive Wolff, and in the winner’s press conference DeChambeau, cradling the round, red Rocket Mortgage trophy, said he planned to work out in the morning. (Of course.) Still, questions remain. With DeChambeau, they always do. How will his new style translate in the majors? Will scarfing down steaks and potatoes and protein shakes, and pumping iron feverishly, hold up over the long haul? Is he still getting better? What happens if and when he dials in his short irons? Will anyone stand a chance? And what about imitators? Will others on TOUR try to mimic the DeChambeau way? “I hope it’s an inspiration to a lot of people that if they set their mind to it, you can accomplish it,” DeChambeau said. “It just takes a lot of hard work, a lot of figuring out things that you may not know and understand yet. But if you keep … working on it, figuring stuff out, eventually you’ll get a little bit better each and every day, and hopefully that leads to something great in the end.”

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Round 2 of the Valero Texas Open gets underway on Friday. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action at TPC San Antonio. Round 2 tee times Round 2 leaderboard HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1-3:30 p.m. (GC), 3:30-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (featured groups), 3:30-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday-Friday, 12:30 to 23:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 15:00 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com). NOTABLE TEE TIMES Rickie Fowler, Andrew Landry, Jimmy Walker: 1:40 p.m. ET (No. 1) Tony Finau, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar: 1:50 p.m. ET (No. 1) Billy Horschel, Jordan Spieth, Jhonattan Vegas: 8:50 a.m. ET (No. 10) J.B. Holmes, Adam Long, Graeme McDowell: 9 a.m. ET (No. 10) MUST READS Si Woo Kim opens with 6-under 66 Fowler’s late equipment switch pays off Featured Groups, tee times Insider: Former Valero champ Bowditch upbeat in return from back injury ‘Just a normal problem’ CALL OF THE DAY

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods got off to a bad start but averted disaster. After making four bogeys in his first five holes Friday, the five-time Masters champion steadied himself to sign for a 74 and is nine off the lead, tied for 19th place going into the weekend. “Well, it was windy,” Woods said. “It was swirling. Balls were oscillating on the greens. We got a couple of bad gusts. I hit a couple of bad shots. I hit a decent shot at 4 that ended up down in a divot, and it was just like – there were so many things that were not going my way. “It was partly the conditions,” he added, “and partly me.” Woods, 46, is making his first official PGA TOUR start in a year and a half, since his career was slowed by a fifth back surgery and nearly ended by a single-car accident in Los Angeles. He said surgeons contemplated amputating his right leg, which is a constant source of pain. Although he has walked with a limp at Augusta National, he’s still here. He easily made the cut for the 22nd straight time, which is one shy of the record held by Fred Couples and Gary Player. “It was a good fight,” Woods said. “I got back in the ball game.” And with a fused back and a weakened right leg, no less. After stumbling out of the gate, he told his caddie, Joe LaCava, that the goal was to get back to even par for the round. Woods had a chance after hitting a series of more characteristic shots, none better than his approach to kick-in range at the par-4 10th hole. But he failed to get up and down at the 15th hole and missed another birdie attempt from roughly 12 feet at the 16th. Still, the way he looked at it, he was just four shots out of second place. He also noted his excitement for the forecast Saturday – cold, windy – which could shake up the leaderboard. “I haven’t played a lot of tournaments of late,” Woods said, “so it’s been a little bit rusty, but I’m starting to come around. I felt good about how I fought back today and got myself – I could have easily kicked myself out of the tournament today, but I kept myself in it.” Joaquin Niemann (74, 1 under total), who played with Woods for the first two days, was impressed. “I think today, he hit it way better than yesterday,” Niemann said. “He looked great – amazing tee shots, some amazing iron shots. On 10 today, he was amazing. So, yeah, he’s still got it.”

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