THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Bryson DeChambeau into the interview room here at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
He is our 2018 champion here making his first start since winning the U.S. Open. Bryson, welcome back. Just get some comments on how your life has changed this the last few weeks.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Thank you for having me. It's fun being here, and I wanted to come back to this tournament because the Shriners have been so great to me for the past couple years. Winning their event and being part of my foundation I felt like I had to come back and support the event. It's just the right thing to do.
I love the golf courses here, too. I feel like it's a great place for me to come and win. You know, it's honestly a tremendous honor to be the U.S. Open champion. I've worked really hard do it, but at the same point in time, a lot of things have to go right to win a U.S. Open championship, and very blessed to be a champion.
THE MODERATOR: You had three top 10 finishes in four starts; you mentioned how much you love the golf course. You just got off the golf course. How is the condition and what can we expect from you this week?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, the golf course conditions are great. I think it's in the best shape it's been since I've been here. A little soft, but I expect it to firm up sure. The greens will get faster and fairways get a little firmer, and that's going to be exciting for me because I feel like I can use my length a little bit more and hit it even farther than what I was doing today.
THE MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you for that. We will open it up to questions.
Q. What was the longest drive you hit today in the Pro-Am?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I don't know what the longest drive was, but I had 169 into 16; I had 185 into 13; No. 9 I had 215 in.
So if you could reverse those numbers. I don't know how far I hit it, but in all the par-5s I had 7-iron or less into.
Q. If you do perfect this 48-driver, how much farther can you hit the ball with it and will you hit it higher?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, if we make it correctly. We're not done with that. But if we do build the head properly and the shaft a little bit more properly I guess you could say, it's going to have the same launch and spin characteristics.
But I think because it's going so much farther it'll have a little higher apex. That's really it. But it'll look like a missile coming off the face. It'll be going pretty fast.
Q. How much farther will it go?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I will not disclose that right now. I don't want to ruffle any feathers.
Q. Okay. I don't want to get ahead but I want to get ahead. Have you thought about what you can do at Augusta? Have you been going hole by hole thinking what could you do at Augusta, and what could you do at Augusta?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I don't want to give too much out. I feel like again, at Augusta, if you're in it past 320 I feel like there are a lot of opportunities to have wider open fairway for me.
You look at No. 13. That's the most exciting hole for me. If it's not into the wind I feel like there is a tremendous advantage to be gained.
Look at No. 15 even. That's going to be a tremendous advantage.
17, even 18. If I'm able to clear those bunkers on the last, that would be pretty cool.
So we'll see. I'm not exactly sure yet. I would have to go see, and obviously the course conditions during the week of Augusta changes quite dramatically, so I am going to have to adjust to that and make sure my game is ready for those conditions.
Q. Hey mate, how you going?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Hey, how you doing?
Q. Yesterday was exactly a year ago since you said you were going to go away and transform your body. I know there were a few doubters at that time, and even maybe still. How come you put together into the words the last 12 months since on then, and do you feel like you silenced anyone who was thinking otherwise?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, winning a major helps and winning a PGA TOUR event through this transformation helps tremendously.
I feel like you seen what I looked like compared to what I am now. Hopefully it's an inspiration to a lot of people that if you really put your mind to it you can change yourself and change yourself for the better.
There will obviously be people that doubt what I do. That's totally fine. That's fuel for my fire. I appreciate that because it makes me think of how can I get better quicker to show people that, Yeah, if you really work hard enough you can change your life for the better.
Again, this is what it was all about. Was to improve my golf game, also to mainly improve my health, and to show people that there is potential for change in a positive way.
Q. And I'm just going to run you through a random few comments that got on our very first story, if you don't mind, and get your response. We had things like, If he reads his words he'll probably realize he sounds ridiculous; in the future, years from now, he'll be thinking, boy, that was stupid; crazy, crazy, crazy; every player who does this wrecks their career.
You know, you get the idea.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah.
Q. Anything to say to that sort of thinking now?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: You know, Einstein was always called a crazy man or somebody that was defying what was actually possible until he started to prove or people started it prove his theories correct.
Then everybody started to love them. There will always be people that when they're pushing down the road and trying to get ahead of the curve, there will be naysayers.
But think it was a tremendous compliment with Rory posting his speed numbers. It's super cool, and I can't wait to battle against him with those numbers. It's going to be great for the game of golf and everybody in general. Hopefully for the next generation that comes up it will be some inspiration, too.
Q. I guess are all players are considered crazy at some point.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, exactly.
Q. Has the U.S. Open win sunk in yet?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: You know, it hasn't, to be honest with you. Again, like I said, I went to Denver on Monday; Tuesday worked out for cumulative total of four hours and got right back after it practicing on Wednesday, Thursday, and I just kept going, kept practicing.
Yes, there were some times where we had some fun dinners and was able to go to Dallas National, the club that I'm at, and enjoy it a little bit. It still hasn't truly sunk in.
I haven't had a few days where I just got to sit down and relax and do nothing. You know, because me I'm working out every day, trying to get stronger, better each and every moment that I can. I'm sure there will be a time here in the next week after this tournament where I have a pretty substantial break and I'll appreciate what I've done and what my team has done.
Q. Where is the U.S. Open trophy?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It is getting engraved right now actually. So I had to send it back to get it engraved because they can't have an engraver on site. But it's usually just in my office, you know, sitting up on the mantle.
Q. You said you're going to have an extended break after this week. What is your schedule leading into the Masters, and what will you be doing between when this tournaments ends and Augusta?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It'll mainly be me being home testing shafts and driver heads trying to find the exact right combo for this 48-inch driver. I will say I've already tested it. There are speed improvements, speed gains, and it's exciting. It really is something crazy that I never thought was even possible. The numbers that it's producing are staggering, way more than what I'm doing right now. So if I can get it dialed in and get the miss-hits working correctly, I feel like I can easily but that in play at Augusta. It's a golf course I can definitely put that in play.
And there will be some golf courses the 48-inch driver is not going to work at, so I can see myself using different drivers for different weeks for sure.
Q. What is your schedule between now and Augusta?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I'm sorry, I'm taking it off. I'm going to have a month off before Augusta. I will be in Dallas practicing every day, working out every day, and doing a lot of speed training.
Every other day I'll do like a speed training session training session trying to get my swing speed, at least with a 48-inch driver up to 200 on average.
That'll be the goal.
Q. 20 something years ago we cared about Tiger proofing when he did something different in the game. Now we're here Bryson proofing. If you were in charge, how would you Bryson proof a course?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I certainly wouldn't make it longer. That's only going to give me a bigger advantage. Without giving too much away, I would definitely say that you almost can't. And I'm not saying that in a cocky manner at all. I'm just saying it's difficult to control length.
Because even if I hit a 4-iron off the tee, right, compared to somebody's 3-wood or driver, it's still a huge advantage to hit it farther.
So they're never going to be able to take away athleticism, and I don't know the situation that would hinder my performance with the added length.
Even if it's a tight short golf course, you look at RBC Heritage, I was still able to perform pretty well there hitting it pretty well with my irons and putting pretty well, too.
So I don't know that answer to be honest wit you.
THE MODERATOR: All right, Bryson, we appreciate your time. Best of luck this week.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Thank you guys. See you throughout the week.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports