Bryson DeChambeau credits ‘legitimate science’ as he cruises to Omega Dubai Desert Classic title

Bryson DeChambeau eased to his first international title at the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday during a record breaking 7-shot win

Bryson DeChambeau made it four wins in nine starts on Sunday as he eased to a seven-shot victory over Matt Wallace with a final round eight-under 64.

At 24-under-par DeChambeau recorded the lowest 72-hole total in tournament history, beating Hoatong Li’s 2018 record by a single shot to win his first international title. 

“It’s incredibly special,” said DeChambeau. “I mean, I’ve always dreamed of winning any Tour event, and to have this many under my belt, I don’t even know what I have right now.

“You know, being able to win internationally is something that I’ve always wanted to do after winning so many times in the States and to get it at the Dubai Desert Classic is incredible. It’s literally a dream come true. I couldn’t be more honoured to win this event.”

Beginning the final round with a one shot lead, DeChambeau quickly extended his advantage with three birdies in a row to move four shots clear, parring his way in for an outward nine of 32. 

He ended that run with an eagle on the par-five 10th, and followed it with a fourth birdie of the day at the 11th by holing from 15 feet. Momentum momentarily stalled when he failed to get up and down at the 12th but he recovered with back-to-back birdies from the 13th to get him to 23-under-par. 

A final birdie at the 17th kept him seven shots ahead of Wallace, who birdied his final two holes, and a tap-in par at the last was all that was left to secure his victory. 

It’s just more vindication for the man been dubbed the ‘golf scientist’, who was honest about struggling with his game over the first 54-holes despite holding a one-shot lead. 

“The first three days, struggled with my game, even though I played well and performed well and shot good numbers, I knew it wasn’t up to my calibre, and today was a good representation of what I can do.”

As for how it’s all been possible, DeChambeau says it’s down to hard work – and a lot of science.

“It’s a lot of hard work with my caddie and just really grinding and trying to figure out how to take account of all the variables out there, whether it’s air pressure, firmness values, mile-per-hour on the speed, putts, and ball speed, spin rates. We’re trying to figure out as much as possible so I can be as successful as possible and obviously it’s shown.

“It’s a domino effect, I think, of a lot of things just falling into place.

“The more variables that we figure out, we can’t figure everything out, but we’ve got a better understanding of how rough shots come out, of how bunker shots come out, of how putts break, what’s — how different angles on the greens relative to the hole, how that truly effects what the putt needs to be for the proper terminal veloc (velocity). Just all these little things we’ve accumulated are just adding up and I believe it’s kind of like a domino effect. It’s just slowly falling over, and a lot of things start clicking into place when you get all these things sort of figured out.

“I don’t know if that makes sense, but in my brain, it does. It’s just a combination of a lot of things starting to fall into place.”

When asked if taking science in to account was the way golf was headed in the future, DeChambeau replied candidly. 

“I’m not going to predict the future, but I know with what we do and how hard my caddie, Tim Tucker works, and how hard I work, I think we’ll figure stuff out that nobody’s figured out before. It makes a difference, it really does.

“I mean, I can see all the errors that everyone else is making on the golf course when I play with them. They hit a shot, and I’m like, well, it’s going to go long, and yeah, or go short and we just know why it happens before it happens when they are trying to play the yardages they are trying to play. We know it because the conditions are changing sometimes, and it’s fun. It’s fun to see that.

“So it does make an impact. I think more people are going to start taking into account, like, oh, my gosh, this is actually not a joke. This is legitimate science.”

And while science was the focus of his win, it also marks a new chapter in his career. DeChambeau has talked before about wanting to become a ‘global player’, and confirmed he has taken up European Tour membership after his victory. 

“I believe so,” he said after being asked if it meant he had taken up membership.

As for whether he’s going to come back to defend his title next year, he replied “I hope so.

“I mean, being able to win overseas is a big deal, and for me to finally get it done is just amazing. I’ve dreamed of it my whole life. I’ve had a lot of dreams and I’ve accomplished a lot of them, but this one’s incredibly special, and Dubai, it’s a futuristic city and a place I loved coming to in 2016 and again here in 2019.

“So this is definitely an event that I would love to come back to many, many times. But as an international player, yeah, I hope I can be somebody that can win consistently overseas, yeah.

“There’s a season-long race out here, as well and I want to win that, as well. That would be great.”

Ian Poulter and Paul Waring both posted eight-under 63s to tie for third with Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Quiros on 16-under-par. Behind them sat a group of five players on 15-under-par, with defending champion Haotong Li among the players tied for 12th after a controversial two-shot penalty on the final hole. 

WITB: Bryson DeChambeau 

Driver: Cobra King F9 Speedback (7 degrees), TPT Golf 14 MKP LT prototype shaft

3-wood: Cobra King LTD Black (14.5 degrees), Project X HZRDUS 85 grams 6.5-flex shaft

5-wood: Cobra King F8+ Baffler (17.5 degrees), Project X HZRDUS 85 grams 6.5-flex shaft

Irons: Cobra King One Length Utility (4 and 5 iron), Cobra King One Length (6-PW), True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 Shafts
Lengths: 37.5 inches

Wedges: Cobra King V Grind (50 degrees), Cobra King WideLow Grind (55, 60 degrees), True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 Shafts

Putter: SIK tour prototype