Team GolfXYZ
Detroit, July 6: Arjun Atwal could not put on the kind of a show he had in the third round and fell to one-over 73 after some early damage to stumble to T-45 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He finished with rounds of 70-69-66-73 for 10-under 278.
Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau, who had Top-10 finishes in the first three events in PGA Tour’s ‘Return to Golf’ finally climbed to the top after all the hype about transforming his body and adding 40 pounds to his weight.
DeChambeau (65) was on fire both at the start and the close as he birdied four of the first seven holes and closed with three in a row for a career-best 23-under 265 and a three shot win over Matthew Wolff (71). Kevin Kisner (66) was third.
Atwal could never get going during the final round. Starting at 11-under he had three pars and then a bogey-double bogey on fourth and fifth. He managed a 22-foot birdie on eighth but once again missed a few short putts.
The bright spot was an eagle on 17thafter two great shots brought him to five feet. “At least I holed that,” he said with a laugh. He had a chip-in birdie on first day and an eagle on each of the other three days. A hole out from 157 yards gave him an eagle on Par-4 12thon second day; a fine approach set up an eagle on Par-5 seventh on third day and on Sunday it was at the Par-5 17th.
“Still considering the long lay-off I trended well and there were lot of positives,” said Atwal. “Let’s see where I go next.”
It was his third cut in nine starts this season, and his 66 was his best round of the season and the total was the best in relation to par.
DeChambeau was the longest of the tee but he also had all other parts of his game in control, though he said he wanted to improve his iron play a lot more.
His final round of seven-under 65 capped by a trio of birdies at the end left overnight leader Wolff (71) in second place. DeChambeau, who now has eight Top-10s in 10 starts in 2020, has been in Top-10 in his last seven starts, five of which were inside Top-5.
DeChambeau not only bombed the Detroit Golf Club with his incredible drives but also made some amazing putts for his first global win since Dubai Desert Classic in January 2019 and the first on PGA Tour since Shriners Hospital Open in November 2018.
Wolff ended second after starting the day with a three-shot lead. He had five bogeys in his first 10 holes and not even a strong finish could help, though he came as close as one shot to DeChambeau at one stage. But the eventual winner buried putts on 16-17-18 to remove any doubts. He made a 30-foot birdie putt on the 16thfollowed by a short putt for birdie on 17thand then smashed a 367-yard drive to set up another comfortable putt at 18th.
Kisner was third, while Danny Willett (66), Adam Hadwin (67), Tyrrell Hatton (67) and Ryan Armour (72) tied for fourth, seven back.
DeChambeau took advantage of the time off due to coronavirus and in that time raised his weight and power and on re-start of the Tour, he has been T-3 (Charles Schwab), T-8 (RBC Heritage), T-3 (Travelers) and a win in Detroit.
“It’s a little emotional for me,” said DeChambeau. “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.”
“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.”
Wolff was generous as he said, “Bryson played great. Seven under, you know – it’s not like I gave it to him. He definitely earned it. Kudos to him.”
Kisner added, “He’s changed the entire way the game is played,”
And Bryson himself?
“I’ve shown people that there’s another way to do it,” he said. “I was kind of in my own world today.” Indeed.
And at the end of the day, he said he would love to celebrate with a steak and potatoes and protein shake and be back for a workout in the morning.
Read also:
Atwal’s 66 rockets him into Top-20 at Rocket Classic; Wolff leads at 19-under
Atwal makes cut, hopes to improve over weekend at Rocket Mortgage
Atwal’s bitter-sweet 70 puts him 68th in first event in 4 months; Redman, Kisner among leaders
