Bryson DeChambeau admits he “messed up” with his par 67 comments about Masters venue Augusta National
A couple of years ago, Bryson DeChambeau, who has not yet won the Masters, made a comment about the Augusta National golf course. He said that he personally considered it a par 67 course. It is, as many golf courses are, a par 72.
DeChambeau implied that he could hit the par five holes within two strokes with ease, thereby shaving off a couple of strokes and putting him at at least 67, where the "par" began in his mind.
Fast forward to the present day, and DeChambeau is atop the leaderboard. He currently trails by a single stroke, but he led after round one and has been playing rather well overall. The comments resurfaced, and the golfer was quick to admit that what he said was wrong.
He admitted via CNN that his comments were a mistake:
“I have a level of respect for this golf course that’s a little bit different than a couple years ago. Clearly today was a great test of golf, and I was able to conquer a very difficult golf course today. Regarding the 67 comment, you mess up. I’m not a perfect person. Everybody messes up. You learn from your mistake, and that was definitely one.”
With him off to such a good start, he was asked if the scorecard he turned in provided any validity to the comments. He was seven under after one round, which would have been two under in his own personal consideration of what Augusta's par is.
The LIV Golf star said:
“Look, I’m going to go out and try to shoot the best score I possibly can. Sure, if you want to line the math up that way, that is a perspective you can take. It was a perspective I had, and it cost me a lot of slack, I guess you could say. It definitely hurt some things."
DeChambeau went on to say that his 65 there was one of the best performances he's had in quite some time. He acknowledged that there were three more days to go, and that he's not losing sight of what's in front of him, vowing to execute to the best of his ability to keep his status near the top of the leaderboard.
Bryson DeChambeau firm supporter of LIV schedule
There have been questions about the validity of LIV's schedule. It's much more laid back and there are only 54 holes each time out. It has been criticized for letting golfers get lax, but Bryson DeChambeau isn't buying it.
He said via CNN:
“That sort of schedule … has provided me good, ample time to get ready for tournaments like this. It would be fine either way. I’m not going to side one way or the other. It is what is it. I just made good use of the time that I’ve been allocated on LIV to work on my golf swing, work on the equipment that I have, and getting to a place where I’m super comfortable going into the week.”
That comfort appears to be paying off, as he is in a really good position to earn his first Masters and his second Major tournament title.