[PHOTO: Christian Petersen]
Bryson DeChambeau shot 65 on day two at Royal Portrush – a 13-shot improvement that guaranteed the two-time major winner will be around for the weekend. Living in the here and now is advisable when you’re in the throes of a major championship, but that doesn’t mean DeChambeau is content with the current state of his equipment.
The mad scientist is always looking for a performance edge.
In March, DeChambeau voiced his displeasure with how his ball was performing after switching from the Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash to the standard Pro V1x.
“I’m looking for a golf ball that launches lower, has controlled spin on a full swing and the half swing still has spin,” he said.
While the Pro V1x remains the ball of choice this week, DeChambeau revealed in his post-round press conference at Portrush that he’s working behind the scenes on something revolutionary that could be ready in the not-too-distant future.
“I’m working with somebody that’s going to get me a ball that works better for my speeds,” he revealed. “Hopefully there’s some more improvements to be made there. That’s something I hope to complete in the next year.
“I need help out here. I hit it way too high. I’ve tried to lower my flight but I compress down on it really hard and the thing just – I spin it like crazy, and then on my wedges I don’t spin it. Launches high with no spin.
“I’m working on a few things that’ll help get that launch down while controlling the spin so it’s more predictable out of my wedge shots.”
In DeChambeau’s eyes, the ultimate goal is to find an option that does all of the above and doesn’t struggle to hold its line in strong crosswinds – something he noted is a continual issue with the current setup.
“That’s what I was kind of working on and seeing if there was a more stable ball in windy conditions early in the week,” he said. “…It’s just not ready to be released, unfortunately. They can’t make enough as quickly as they’d like. But it’s coming; it’ll be here, worst-case scenario, September, but an iteration of it in the next couple of weeks. Not in time for this week, but I’m going to give it my all this weekend.”
As for the mystery ball in question, DeChambeau didn’t offer details on who he’s working with at the moment or what a potential prototype could look like. But thanks to NBC on-course reporter Smylie Kaufman, we have some intriguing clues.
As the former PGA Tour winner mentioned on “The Smylie Show”, DeChambeau was given a non-conforming Polara Ultimate Straight ball to try during a Tuesday practice round at Royal Portrush. According to the company, the dimple pattern on the ball is designed to correct hooks and slices by 75 percent.
“He’s been testing a bunch of different dimple types because he’s been trying to get his golf ball to have less curvature in the air,” Kaufman said. “He just has one of them, and he kept on hitting it off on different shots on different holes.
“He was like, ‘See guys? Look at that.’ The ball’s not even moving. It was insane. He had an iron shot on the sixth hole where the wind was 20-25mph off the right. This ball is getting hammered and moved to the left, but he hits this heavy sandball. This is the best way to describe it with no dimples, and it doesn’t curve at all.”
If there was an area where the two-piece distance ball struggled, it was around the green, where Kaufman recalled DeChambeau hit a wedge shot with no spin that soared high into the air and landed with a thud on the green.
“It was a knuckle ball, and it wasn’t ever spinning,” he said. “You could never hit a low checking shot. Laurie Canter and I were just giggling, watching how much fun he was having with this non-conforming golf ball.”
While it was all fun and games during the practice round, DeChambeau is well aware that the ball technology Polara possesses isn’t suitable for competition. The R&A and USGA have rules surrounding certain characteristics related to the dimple, specifically symmetry and overall performance.
But could there be a world where the dimple design on the non-conforming offering spurs additional conversations during the design process? It seems plausible.
“Hopefully there’s some more improvements to be made there,” DeChambeau said. “That’s something I hope to complete in the next year.
