Big-hitting Bryson DeChambeau has come out firing against a proposed rollback of the golf ball, declaring “if you could say I’m the complete opposite times 1,000, that’s what I would be.”
Speaking to the LIV Golf website, the aptly named Crushers captain was responding to an R&A/USGA proposal that would rollback the distance the golf ball is traveling by approximately 5% from 2026, should the changes be approved.
DeChambeau, who has worked tirelessly to eek out extra power, even excelling at World Long Drive Contests, perhaps to the detriment of his playing career, believes curbing power hitters will draw eyeballs away from the game when it should be focussed on capturing the imagination instead.
“It’s a great handicap for us guys that have worked really hard to learn how to hit it farther,” he said.
“Look, if they do it in a way where it only affects the top end, I see the rationale. But I think it’s the most atrocious thing that you could possibly do to the game of golf. It’s not about rolling golf balls back; it’s about making golf courses more difficult.”
He added: “I think it’s the most unimaginative, uninspiring, game-cutting thing you could do. Everybody wants to see people hit it farther. That’s part of the reason why a lot of people like what I do. It’s part of the reason a lot of people don’t like what I do.
“But again, it creates more conversation in a positive way than cutting it back and trying to make everybody equal. I’m all about equality. I’m not about equality on this front.”
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