BMW Championship 2018: How Bryson DeChambeau is using his brain waves to bid for history

No player has ever won the first three FedEx Cup Playoff events in a row but DeChambeau is bidding to do just that in Philadelphia this week

Ben Burrows
Philadelphia
Thursday 06 September 2018 02:17 EDT
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Bryson DeChambeau kisses the trophy
Bryson DeChambeau kisses the trophy (AP)

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“I'm a little tired, I’m not going to lie.” After becoming the first player in a decade to win the opening two FedEx Cup Playoff events most would forgive Bryson DeChambeau for showing signs of a little fatigue.

De Chambeau’s latest triumph, a two-shot victory in Boston a week ago, was his fifth in the last 14 months and earned him the guaranteed No 1 spot for next weekend’s Tour Championship and, in turn, the pole position for the $10million top prize at East Lake.

This week's BMW Championship here in Philadelphia will be DeChambeau’s 57th tournament in the last two years. So is the 24-year-old Californian ready for a well-earned break? Not a bit of it.

“Being No. 1 in the FedExCup Playoffs is something that I've dreamed of, especially going into East Lake, that's a humongous advantage and something that's quite a tremendous honour as well," he says.

“I thought about taking a week off. I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that to the BMW and I couldn't do that all the fans and the sponsors that have helped put this event on.

“It would be easy for me to say, ‘Hey, I'm just going to skip this week because I'm tired.’ But no, I want to win three in a row.”

DeChambeau is no ordinary golfer. If likely Ryder Cup playing partner Tiger Woods is characterised as the most naturally gifted golfer in history then perhaps DeChambeau, with his abundance of unorthodox idiosyncrasies, is his natural opposite.

All of his irons and wedges are exactly 37.5 inches long, the same as his 7-iron, so his swing remains identical – and repeatable – whether he is hitting from 50 yards or 250 yards. Most players read greens with feel - he reads them using vectors. He once asked for an air density measurement before playing a chip.

Here at Aronimink DeChambeau reveals he’s monitoring his brain waves this week to make sure he’s resting enough.

“What's been so key to me is Greg ‘Rosskoff’ MAT, what he's done with my body to help me be able to perform at a higher level even also tied in with neuroscience, these guys have been able to tell me, registering my brain waves, ‘Hey, you're overworked man, you need a rest’,” he says.

DeChambeau's win in Boston was his fifth in 14 months
DeChambeau's win in Boston was his fifth in 14 months (Getty)

“We can measure that before the round, after the round, anytime we want, and that's really going to help maximise my recovery and performance on and off the course.”

With more wins in 2018 than Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth combined and as one of only three players ever to win the US Amateur, NCAA Division 1 Championships and three PGA Tour titles by the age of 25 the world No 7 is already in rarefied air. But he has no intention of stopping there.

“Winning two in a row is a lot more than I thought it would be mentally and physically,” he adds. “There's a lot more obligations that come around with that but it's really an honor and I want to keep doing it.

“This is new territory for me and I'm learning how to navigate the waters. But, yeah, it's definitely something that I want to keep going.”

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