PARAMUS, N.J. – Bryson DeChambeau has earned the nickname “mad scientist” on the PGA Tour for his calculated approach to the golf swing, and following his four-stroke victory on Sunday at The Northern Trust his detailed analysis didn’t disappoint.
“I have tolerances and I allow for error because there’s human error,” he explained. “You can’t control everything all the time. No matter what, if I perfect my biomechanics, which is not going to happen, but let’s say I get really, really, really close to where my error is within 5 or 6 feet every time. The one thing nobody out here will ever be able to control is the conditions of the course.”
Updated FedExCup standings after The Northern Trust
Full-field scores from The Northern Trust
Given his academic approach to the game, it may be a surprise that DeChambeau was not the best student.
“I had to work hard to be an A student, actually. I wasn’t great at reading and writing,” he smiled. “I’ll never forget, the first time I got a B in high school, I was mortified because I had worked so hard, and I just wasn’t good enough in writing.”
But if reading and writing were not exactly his strengths, arithmetic was never a problem. “Well, that’s given,” he laughed. “I do like numbers. I’m more of a theoretical guy than a data/analytics guy, per se.”