The odd couple pairing that might affect Dustin Johnson’s chance of winning Masters
This is Bryson DeChambeau describing the calculations he likes to make before each golf shot: Rain “affects moisture level, and that’s going to affect the way the ball reacts on the face. You know, there’s a percentage to that, and we have to account for that. If you don’t, you’re going to hit it to 30, 40 feet, instead of 10 feet. We adjust all our numbers based on the moisture level and the firmness value of the greens and all that.”
This is Columbia’s Dustin Johnson describing what it’s like to play with DeChambeau and watch all the calculations he makes before a golf shot: “It takes a long time.”
Johnson, the Dutch Fork High and Coastal Carolina University alum, will play with DeChambeau the next two days at Augusta National Golf Club as he tries to win his first Masters in his ninth try. He and DeChambeau will be grouped with Jason Day in a trio that will tee off at 1:38 p.m. Thursday and 10:42 a.m. Friday. How Johnson fares playing with one of the game’s most methodical players could determine whether he enters the weekend with a chance to win.
DeChambeau has a physics degree from Southern Methodist and is known as the “Mad Scientist” on the PGA Tour.
Johnson has a famous fiancé (Paulina Gretzky, daughter of hockey great Wayne Gretzky) and is known as one of the tour’s most athletic and least analytical golfers.
“I don’t really think I’m misunderstood,” he said.
DeChambeau and his caddy calculate not only yardage and wind speed and direction before each shot like other pros but also air density, trajectory, ball speed and spin rates, although he won’t be able to get all the numbers he wants this week because Augusta National rules forbid him from using some of the technology he does at other tournaments, such as a TrackMan system during practice rounds.
“My dedication to figuring things out is the exact same. What I’m able to sometimes figure out is not as much as other places, but that’s OK,” DeChambeau said. “Because if we can figure this stuff out in a way that’s allowable, then that’s a huge advantage for us.”
Johnson gets the yardage number to the front of the green, the yardage number to the pin, gauges the wind and fires away.
“But no math calculations, really,” he said. “I don’t need a calculator. It works for him. I don’t even try to understand all of it.”
DeChambeau is ranked sixth in the world entering this week, which is good but not as good as the 35-year-old Johnson, who is ranked second in the world and is fifth on the money list this year.
Johnson’s best finish at Augusta is a tie for fourth in 2016. He was the runaway favorite in 2017 but a slip down the stairs at his Augusta rental home the week of the tournament forced him to withdraw.
“I’ve got videos of my swing from when I was here in 2017, and so I watch those a lot to try to just get some of those same feels, and I feel like the game, it’s close,” Johnson said. “It’s not as good as it was then, but I feel like it’s going in the right direction.”
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Sunday, 2 to 7 p.m., CBS
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This story was originally published April 10, 2019 at 3:45 PM.
