Bryson DeChambeau hoping lack of patrons at Masters can give him ‘little bit of an advantage’

Although Bryson DeChambeau admits that not having patrons at the Masters this year will be “unfortunate,” he is aiming to take advantage of the empty golf course.

Spectators are not allowed into Augusta National Golf Club due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

And while DeChambeau says he and his colleagues will miss having patrons “out rooting us on and cheering for us,” the big-hitting American is hoping that not having to worry about avoiding crowds will open up different areas of the famous course.

“As of this year, it’s going to be different because I’m going to be able to hit it on certain lines where patrons would be, and I feel like that it does provide me a little bit of an advantage in that case to be able to hit into those areas without thinking about it at all,” he told the media in a press conference.

“You look at 18, I’m hopefully going to be able to hit it over those bunkers where the patrons would be. Another one would be 13 even. I can hit it through almost into 14 and they would be there, so this is a unique opportunity I think this year.”

READ: What a Masters like no other might be like

Over the last few months, no one has changed golf like DeChambeau has.

The addition of 40 pounds of muscle during lockdown enabled him to transform himself into the PGA Tour’s longest driver. And his new, big-hitting technique reaped immediate rewards after golf’s Covid-19 hiatus, including 10 top-10 finishes and his maiden major victory at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in September.

DeChambeau has always been a fan of testing new technologies or methods to try and gain an edge, something that has previously annoyed some of golf’s more traditional members.

But following his dominant victory at the U.S. Open two months ago — he won by a six-shot margin — DeChambeau believes he is beginning to win people over.

“I think people are starting to see that no matter what it is, whether I do this or that or face-on putting, it’s always to try to get better, no matter what I do. There’s going to be times of failure and there’s going to be times of success,” the 27-year-old said on Tuesday.

“But I’m going to fail a lot more than I succeed, and I think people are starting to understand that it’s not just about me being quirky and doing things in my own way but it’s about the process of trying to be better each and every day.

“That’s what I hope people can understand, is that it’s not necessarily just about me being different or trying different things. It’s about me going through a process that will tell me if I’m doing the right thing or not. If I go down a road and it doesn’t work, I’ll pull myself back out and try something else.

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“I think that’s what hopefully can inspire a lot of people to say: ‘You know what, I’ve got to think about this hopefully in a new way and try and be as good as I possibly can, to do my best each and every day, and if something fails and something is wrong, I pull myself back out and I try something else that will make me better in whatever field it is.'”