Numbers to Know: Rocket Mortgage Classic

Welcome to this week’s edition of Numbers to Know, where we’ll take a closer look at Bryson DeChambeau’s victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. DeChambeau’s radical transformation of his game, and body, finally led to a victory after several weeks in contention. Let’s take a closer look at how he did it. 1. DIGGING THE LONG BALL: You may have heard that DeChambeau is hitting it farther. Just how far? He led the field with an average of 350.6 yards per measured drive. That was 9.6 yards farther than the second-place finisher in that statistic, Cameron Champ. DeChambeau hit 16 drives over 350 yards at Detroit Golf Club, an average of four per round. That was more than twice as many as the next two players on the list, Matthew Wolff (7) and Cameron Champ (6). Those are two players who aren’t exactly known for being short hitters. 2. LONG AND SHORT OF IT: DeChambeau is the first player in the ShotLink era to win an event while leading the field in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Putting. He’s been outstanding with the clubs he hits the farthest and shortest. He’s gaining +1.113 strokes off the tee per round, trailing TOUR leader Cameron Champ by just 0.003. DeChambeau is 12th in Strokes Gained: Putting (+0.69). Just nine players have averaged +1.0 Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee per round over an entire season. DeChambeau is on pace to become the first player to gain at least 1 stroke off the tee and 0.5 strokes on the greens in the same season. Players who have gained at least 1 stroke off the tee have averaged just +0.06 strokes gained on the greens in the same season. DeChambeau is on pace to gain the most strokes per round from the driver and putter in a season since ShotLink began in 2004. Every player who gained at least 1.4 strokes per round with their driving and putting won multiple times in that season. 3. GAINING ON THEM: The Rocket Mortgage was the best Strokes Gained: Putting performance of DeChambeau’s career. It wasn’t the top Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee performance of his career – it was his third-best – but it continued a recent trend. The top four Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee performances of his career have all come in his last six starts. 4. WHAT A TURKEY: DeChambeau and Wolff were separated by just a stroke after DeChambeau’s bogey on the par-5 14th and Wolff’s birdie on the par-3 15th. DeChambeau sprinted away from his closest pursuer with birdies on the last three holes to win by three shots. It was a measure of revenge for DeChambeau, who watched Wolff eagle the 72nd hole to beat him by one on the previous Fourth of July weekend. DeChambeau is the first player since 2016 to birdie the final three holes to win a stroke-play event by three or fewer strokes. 5. BREAKING BAD: Wolff started the final round with a three-shot lead, but shot 38 on the front nine to fall off the pace. He put some pressure on DeChambeau, though, with four birdies in the final seven holes. Wolff led the field with 31 par-breakers (30 birdies, 1 eagle) but was undone by 12 bogeys. It was the most par-breakers in a 72-hole event by a player who didn’t win since Ryan Palmer at the 2014 AMERICAN EXPRESS. It was the first time since 2008 that a player made that many par-breakers at an event other than THE AMERICAN EXPRESS and didn’t win. In the last decade, only two players have made more birdies and eagles in a 72-hole event than Wolff’s 31. Justin Thomas (2015 CIMB) and Patrick Reed (2014 AMERICAN EXPRESS) both made 32 in their victories.

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