Bryson DeChambeau has been on a quest to gain weight -- almost all of it muscle -- in search of more speed and distance. He wanted to go from a normal-looking golfers to someone with hulking muscles that could swing the driver faster than anyone on the PGA Tour.
And that was before quarantine.
DeChambeau has emerged from a three-month PGA Tour layoff even thicker, even bigger, even faster and even longer than before the break -- and a lot of golf fans are taking notice. He's an absolute unit right now, prompting fans on social media to tweet images of Bryson as the Incredible Hulk or otherwise comment on the radical transformation in his appearance.
However, gaining 30 or 35 lbs appears to be working for DeChambeau. His 2020 results were starting to come into form just before the break in the PGA Tour schedule. He leads the PGA Tour in driving distance, averaging just about a yard more than Rory McIlroy. DeChambeau's average of 321.3 yards off the tee marks a 27-yard increase in his average driving distance compared to four years ago.
💪 @B_DeChambeau's bulked up.
Driving distance in 2020: 321.3 yards
Driving distance in 2016: 294.6 yards pic.twitter.com/6lklSqOE2U— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 11, 2020
In the time off, DeChambeau appears to have potentially gotten even longer, hitting a drive 354 yards in Thursday's opening round of the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.
In live-stream videos during the time off, DeChambeau managed to hit 200 mph ball speed with drives hit into a net at his home. Estimates suggest every 1 mph increase in ball speed can mean up to 2 yards of additional driver distance. In 2019, DeChambeau averaged 175 mph ball speed with the driver. That means DeChambeau could be gaining somewhere in the area of 25-40 yards, depending on other conditions.
For what it's worth, the Guinness World Record for ball speed is 226 mph.
If DeChambeau can take the added distance and turn that into good scores, he could quickly find himself in the top five of the Official World Golf Ranking.
