Bryson DeChambeau crashed out of the PGA Championship before the weekend, missing the cut by a margin.
His seven-over par finish actually flattered him, as the two-time US Open winner made three-straight birdies to end his second round.
Despite the late flourish, DeChambeau missed the cut by three strokes, meaning he is 0-2 on playing major championship weekends this season. In what is an incredibly important year for DeChambeau, the biggest events of the year could not have gone any worse for him.
And there is a worrying statistic suggesting this isn’t just a blip and that a more concerning underlying issue is at play.
Bryson DeChambeau’s driver struggles at Aronimink
DeChambeau, known for his hard-hitting style of play that overpowers golf courses week to week on LIV, was not his usual self at Aronimink.
In fact, the American ranked 48th in the field in average driving distance. On 14 drives, DeChambeau averaged 302.8 yards off the tee, over 20 yards shorter than the field-leading Michael Brennan, and nearly 20 yards shorter than Rory McIlroy.
You would imagine that a lot of this would be due to him hitting his drives wide of the fairway and getting caught in the rough, so his ball doesn’t roll out and he doesn’t gain more distance.
But DeChambeau was fairly accurate off the tee this week. He hit 64.3% of his fairways through two rounds, which put him 36th among all players.
This is more likely a sign that his wrist injury, which he first mentioned last week at LIV Virginia, is robbing him of his usual eye-popping numbers off the tee, and holding him back significantly.
Why losing driving distance is a disaster for Bryson DeChambeau
Of all the players in the field, DeChambeau might be the player who can least afford to lose distance off the tee.
Because he hit it shorter than usual at Aronimink, DeChambeau had to lean on his longer irons more than the longest hitters in the field. That became a significant issue as the week went on.
DeChambeau’s iron play can be his biggest weakness, and that reared its ugly head at Aronimink. At a golf course that required players to hit the right part of the green and punished players severely for missing the green, DeChambeau was all over the place on approach.
He ranked 79th in the field on approach and 149th in greens in regulation. DeChambeau was unable to make up for his shorter hitting with his iron play, which saw him crash out early.
If this is an injury issue, then DeChambeau must be cautious ahead of the other majors of the year. But if this is something more, then he could be in serious trouble.