It was in the middle of a discussion about Donald Trump and throwing golf clubs that Bryson DeChambeau slipped on his lab coat, started talking about his balls, and became the Mad Scientist all over again.
DeChambeau had just walked off the 18th green at Royal Portrush after an astonishing second round of six-under par, just a day after a seven-over horror show left him looking certain to miss the cut, ready to snap his clubs and, as he put it, just wanting to go home.
It was at this point that an eagle-eyed reporter asked the two-time Major champion, now set for an unexpected weekend on the links, why he used a different golf ball during his practice rounds to the one he hit over the opening two loops.
DeChambeau was trying a prototype ball – the Polara Ultimate Straight – which, as the name suggests, stops it from veering off course. So much so, in fact, that it’s illegal in competition. You can buy a dozen off Amazon for about £40.
The question took physics major DeChambeau by surprise and then the science lesson began. ‘I was just – you are so good at asking questions,’ he said with the air of a man rumbled by his wife after hiding the biscuits.
‘Look, I’m working with somebody that’s going to get me a ball that works better for my speeds. I need help out here. I hit it way too high.
Bryson DeChambeau was seven over par during his first round in The Open at Royal Portrush
The American fared much better on Friday when he went round six under par in just 65 strokes
‘I’ve tried to lower my flight but I compress down on the ball really hard and the thing just… I spin it like crazy, and then on my wedges I don’t spin it. It launches high with no spin.
‘I need a golf ball that on wedges can click on the face more consistently. I get a lot of slipping on the face just because of how vertical I am and how much loft I have, and it just rolls up the face and launches with no spin most of the time on my shots, so getting something that comes off at a more consistent trajectory in adverse conditions is really the goal.’
‘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.
‘I was seeing if there was a more stable ball in windy conditions early in the week. It’s just not ready to be released, unfortunately.’
Not that it caused many problems on Friday as DeChambeau made seven birdies, including four of the last seven holes, to post an astonishing round of 65.
This was the same DeChambeau who spent to the start of this week saying how he wanted to design a gigantic wind tunnel full of fans to prepare for conquering the links.
By the end of his chat, he had backed Donald Trump to make the Open great again if it returns to the US President’s course at Turnberry.
DeChambeau used a prototype ball in practice at Portrush before switching to a regulation ball
Donald Trump pictured (right) alongside DeChambeau outside the Oval Office earlier this year
R&A chiefs revealed earlier this week they held a ‘really good discussion’ with Trump’s family over whether their course could stage its first Open since 2009 and the improvements that would need to be made.
DeChambeau famously played a round with the golf-obsessed President for the two-time major champion’s YouTube channel in a video that racked up 15million views and believes the President would make an Open at Turnberry a special event.
‘Oh, yeah, I think he would,’ said DeChambeau when asked by Mail Sport after his round. ‘He’d still probably respect the R&A and what they’re trying to accomplish.
‘I can’t speak on his behalf, but what I can say is knowing him, he’ll do his best of a job as he possibly can, and I know they won’t let him down.’
