Eric Cole will come back to complete the final four holes of his opening round at Oak Hill but it’s Bryson DeChambeau who holds the clubhouse lead after a four-under 66 with Scottie Scheffler two behind while world number one Jon Rahm is struggling on plus six.
DeChambeau carded six birdies and a pair of bogeys on Thursday morning following a one hour and 50 minute frost delay which left most of the afternoon wave unable to complete their first rounds before darkness.
The solo lead on the golf course is currently held by rookie Cole who had reeled off three successive birdies to hit the front on five-under before the horn brought play to a halt.
LIV players have started well with three inside the top-10 after the opening day including Dustin Johnson who was alongside DeChambeau until a closing bogey dropped him back alongside Scheffler and Corey Conners in a share of third place on three-under-par.
Australia’s Adam Scott was on course to grab a share of the clubhouse lead until a final hole double bogey dropped him to -2 alongside Viktor Hovland, Ryan Fox and 2011 winner Keegan Bradley.
Oak Hill has drawn comparisons with 2020 US Open venue Winged Foot where DeChambeau won and while he might be slimmer than usual he is still bombing it.
“It’s a fantastic round of golf at Oak Hill. It’s a prestigious place. Very difficult golf course.
“As I was looking at it throughout the week, I’m like, man, I don’t know how shooting under par is even possible out here on some of the golf holes.
“But, luckily, I was able to play some really good golf, hit a lot of fairways, did my job and made some putts.”
The American has been in the golfing wilderness virtually since he won his only major title three years ago and has undergone some severe dietary changes which have seen him almost half his calorie intake.
“Well, a lot of diet changes and eating a lot going down to 5,000 calories down to 2,900, whatever it is now. Carrie, my chef, she helps me out with that.
“But eating properly instead of eating stuff that inflames my body. I took a Zoomer peptide test, which essentially tells what you inflames your blood when you eat it. I was allergic to corn, wheat, gluten, dairy. Pretty much everything I liked, I couldn’t eat. I took that out. Started taking it out in August and over the course of time I’ve lost all this inflammation, lost a lot of fat and slimmed down like crazy.
“I lost 18 pounds in 24 days. It was crazy. It wasn’t fat. It was all water weight. You know how I looked before. I was not skinny.
“So a lot of changes in that regard. Obviously having the hand injury was no fun and then learning to play golf again with a new hand.
“It’s been a while. So nice to come back and start to finally figure out what’s going on with my golf swing. As I’ve told you guys before, I’ve struggled with my driving. You see me out there on the range. That’s something I don’t want to do. I don’t want to be out there all night, but I’ve had to to figure out what I did so well in 2018 and what made me so successful then.
“I feel like I’m catching on and trending that direction. Figured out a couple things this week, and it certainly paid off today.”
Leave a comment