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AUGUSTA, Georgia – So, you say you don’t believe in the gods that reside in the tall pines that surround, overlook and protect Augusta National?
You say you don’t believe that there are mystical forces at work in the sacred lands where green jackets are awarded and hearts broken?
You say you don’t believe in karma, that it can be a bitch sometimes?
Well take a look at Bryson DeChambeau’s last two days at the Masters.
Do you know what Augusta National did to DeChambeau, the favorite to win entering the week and the greatest history in golf?
Punish him.
How else do you explain DeChambeau’s nightmare two days after arriving in Augusta so sure of his game and the possibility that he could dismantle Alister MacKenzie’s crown jewel with its volume, length and newfound technological advancements ?
DeChambeau has spoken openly that he believes he is beating the system with all the work he has done on his body, that it will be up to everyone in the game to catch up.
Augusta National has shown him, over the past two days, that he will not beat the system under his watch.
Let’s start with Friday’s second round, which DeChambeau started with a par on the tough first hole, then a birdie on the par 5 second, on which his tee shot went 380 yards, leaving him 176 in the green.
He was 1 under through two holes and 3 under for the tournament. Everything was going according to plan – hold on tight to the tough holes and eat the par-5s for lunch.
Then n ° 3 arrived.
You might remember Augusta’s number 3, nicknamed “Flowering Peach”. It’s the shortest par-4 on the golf course at 350 yards and DeChambeau, before the tournament began, spoke cavalierly about driving it with ease.
On Friday DeChambeau did something that in 26 years of covering the Masters I’ve never seen: he lost a ball in the rough.
He hit the pilot high in the air towards the third green, the ball landed in the rough left… and no one could find it.
How ironic that DeChambeau won the US Open in September at Winged Foot, where the rough was ankle deep and the fairways narrow, never coming close to losing a ball that week… and he lost on a Friday on par 4 the shortest of the course.
The scene was surreal. We’re used to seeing search teams made up of caddies, players, volunteer stewards, spectators and sometimes even the media looking for a player’s stray ball at the US Open and British Open.
Not at the Masters.
But there was DeChambeau, after the maximum time allowed for a bullet search had elapsed, bringing that dreaded lap of perp onto a cart at the start to reload.
“So you’re saying if you can’t find it… it’s a stray bullet?” DeChambeau was heard asking officials through the microphones on the television.
DeChambeau was naturally agitated. The marshals are on the ground in order to spot the stray shots in the rough or the woods. But with the COVID-19 restrictions, there don’t seem to be that many marshals working on this Masters and, of course, there aren’t any bosses allowed. So that reduced the number of eyes on DeChambeau’s tee shot.
The debacle ended with a triple bogey 7 for DeChambeau, who in Thursday’s opening round won a double bogey 7 shock on the 13th par 5 hole, another hole he expected to feast on this week. praising to have hit this green. in practice rounds.
Let’s all agree that 7 isn’t a lucky number for DeChambeau – definitely not Friday the 13th.
DeChambeau sits 1-over and is on the wrong side of the cut line, which was thrown tied at the end of the day on Friday, but could drop to 1-under as the second round ends on Saturday morning with 49 players out. equal or greater and the cut made up of the bottom 50 and ties.
DeChambeau, who will resume his second round on par 5 13 on Saturday morning, has six holes to finish on his second round. If the cup goes to 1 under, he must play those last six holes in 2 under to stay in the tournament.
Prior to the tournament, DeChambeau boldly described Augusta National, which is par-72, as “a par 67 for me because I can hit every par-5 in two, no problem.”
“This is how I feel about myself,” he says.
The gods of Augusta National were listening. They obviously didn’t like what they heard. Karma can, indeed, be inconstant.
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