Bryson DeChambeau sure knows how to make things interesting.
The U.S. Open champion won his second match as a pro in the Dell Technologies Match Play with a 2-and-1 victory over Si Woo Kim. Only five of the 17 holes were halved, and that wasn’t the half of it.
DeChambeau appeared to be cruising along. He was 1 up at the turn when his tee shot on No. 10 hit a tree and ricocheted against the picket fence surrounding the practice green. The ball ended up 46 yards to his right.
DeChambeau said after the round that he “heel-pulled” the drive.
“I was trying to drive the green and it came up just short … of the [practice] putting green,” DeChambeau joked.
Players on the green, such as Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele, had to move to the other side of the putting green.
“I could have easily cleared the trees up and over like I wanted to, but I hit it on the wrong part of the face and consequently hit the tree limb,” DeChambeau said.
He wound up dropping by the tee and lost the hole. Then, he hit into the water on the 11th and lost that hole.
DeChambeau was 1 down with five holes to play when he made a 25-foot birdie on the 14th hole, and then he took the lead when Kim missed a 5-foot par putt.
DeChambeau is now 1-1-heading into his Friday matchup with Tommy Fleetwood. DeChambeau needs a victory to give himself a chance to advance out of the group stage and into the Round of 16.
“A lot of it is gamesmanship and trying to put the golf ball in certain places to make people feel certain ways,” DeChambeau said of his match play strategy in this unique event. “No. 1 is a great example. [No.] 10 is another one I thought I could go at it, too bad there was a tree limb in the way and it caught the ball.
“A few others out there – 18 I can go for, 5 is always fun. There’s just some holes I can take some advantage on and haven’t really done that to the fullest this week but hopefully tomorrow I can do it.”
— With AP