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AUGUSTA, GA (AP) – It was a very reassuring day at Augusta National.
Turns out the green jacket won’t be draped over the biggest, strongest shoulders – not if they belong to a guy who has no idea where that little white ball is going.
The Incredible Hulk of Links Bryson DeChambeau arrived at the Masters speak boldly of mastering one of golf’s most sacred grounds.
Instead, it was cut to size.
DeChambeau spent Friday spraying gunshots all over the course, his frustration threatening to spill over at any point like the fictional Hulk.
He even managed to lose a ball in a really weird way.
Then there was Abraham Ancer, recording every 5’7 and 160 pounds, roughly the size of one of DeChambeau’s forearms.
The 29-year-old Mexican ranked far down the list in terms of driving distance, averaging 279.5 yards from more than a football half-field behind DeChambeau’s moon shots.
But Ancer had a much better idea of where his bullet was going. And when he left the course at the end of the second round, he had a 9 under 135 on his card which gave him a share of the incomplete 36 hole lead.
“I didn’t really hit my best off the tee,” Ancer said. “But I was able to scramble really well and make a few birdie putts which kept me in the game. I played the par 3 really well.
These are of course the shortest holes, but they are usually the most evil. It’s all about touch, not force.
Ancer birdied three of them in the second round, a big reason the Masters rookie left the course tied for the lead.
DeChambeau will just try to make the cut when he returns on Saturday morning to complete his last six holes of his second round. He played the first dozen at 3 plus, leaving him a whopping 10 shots behind Ancer and three more at the top of the standings.
Barely what you expected of a guy who transformed his body into something akin to an NFL center linebacker, who mastered the US Open pitch at Winged Foot to win his first major title, which abruptly established the normal at 67 instead of 72.
“I can hit any par 5 in two, no problem,” boasted DeChambeau, who sought to standardize the idea of 400-yard drives and swing speeds that can withstand an Indy race car.
If Augusta’s four par 5s turn into par 4s on DeChambeau’s presumptive and presumptive scorecard, it surely means that the third hole – at 350 yards, by far the shortest par 4 on the course – is marked at a par 3 at Bryson’s Mammoth Tee Shot Emporium.
Well you’re not going to believe what happened at # 3.
Exhaling loudly before his club spun at frightening speed, DeChambeau took aim with his driver on the left side of the fairway, the green clearly in his sights.
But the balloon exploded further to the left than expected, landing in an area of thick grass still moistened by heavy rain this week. He was traveling with such force that he sank deep into the ground.
DeChambeau and about fifteen other people – government officials, workers, anyone else standing in the sparse gallery of this bossless Masters – roamed the turf for three full minutes, pushing and pushing the ground.
No bullet.
“When Bryson hits him as hard as he hits him it’s kind of hung with little effect in a soft area… we were all convinced that it was pretty buried and was going to be hard to find. Said playing partner Jon Rahm, who also joined the research team.
Since there were also no immediate reports of his appearance halfway around the world, DeChambeau was left to take the Ride of Shame. A cart brought him back to the tee box to strike again. He ended up making a triple bogey 7 at one hole which resulted in an average score of 3.966.
(FWIW, Golf.com reported the ball was found about 10 minutes later by a gallery guard, less than 10 feet from the fairway, but only visible to someone just above.)
When you combine the triple bogey with another 7 Thursday – when DeChambeau drove one behind a pine tree, took the next shot through azalea bushes, hit a provisional in Rae’s Creek, found his first ball, took a penalty, cut a chip and finished by making a double bogey at the third – easiest hole on the course – it’s easy to see why he’s in the tough situation he’s in.
Never mind that he has nine birdies on his card and the top spot in the entire field in driving distance – 13 meters ahead of the next man.
While DeChambeau made quite a mess, Bernhard Langer, 63, methodically worked his way through the course.
The little German ranks 88th out of 91 players for driving distances, but he’s tied for third for driving precision, missing just three fairways in the first two laps.
The result: Langer has 3 cents and is sure to become the oldest player in Masters history to make the cup.
“I piloted the ball well and played fairly well, and it kept me in there even though I hit really long clubs,” Langer said. “I love this golf course. I think I know how to get around this even though I have hit really long clubs. But it is certainly not easy. This is the place of a long hitter. It always has been.
Fortunately, there is more to Augusta than the one that hits the furthest.
We had a reminder this Friday.
No offense for DeChambeau, but it was very reassuring.
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Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for the Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry (at) ap.org or at https://twitter.com/pnewberry196 His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/paulnewberry
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