Breaking down the big-hitting group of DeChambeau, Champ and Wolff

“It was crazy. It was nuts. It was unbelievable.”

That was Rory McIlroy’s reaction when he played with Bryson DeChambeau in the first event after the PGA TOUR season resumed. 

McIlroy got a front-row seat to see the transformed DeChambeau in the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. McIlroy doesn’t lack for length, but several of DeChambeau’s tee shots caused McIlroy’s jaw to drop.

“He hit a couple drives on Sunday that Harry (Diamond, McIlroy’s caddie) and I just looked at each other, and we’re like, ‘Holy (expletive), that was unbelievable,’” McIlroy said that day.

DeChambeau’s driving will be on full display at this week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Not only is this his first start since he became a major champion, but it was at last year’s Shriners that DeChambeau announced his intention to bulk up in search of bigger drives.

DeChambeau will be paired in the first two rounds with two of the TOUR’s biggest hitters, as well. He will play Thursday and Friday with Cameron Champ and Matthew Wolff. The numbers say that DeChambeau is the longest hitter on TOUR. This week provides the opportunity to produce some eyewitness testimony.

Champ is the man DeChambeau supplanted atop the PGA TOUR’s driving distance ranking. Champ led that statistic in 2019 with an average measured drive of 317.9 yards before DeChambeau nipped him by one-tenth of a yard in 2020 (322.1 yards to 322.0). 

This is the first time DeChambeau and Champ have been paired in a PGA TOUR event. Champ and Wolff have never been paired together, either.

Wolff was runner-up in both of DeChambeau’s wins since the season resumed (Rocket Mortgage Classic, U.S. Open). That Sunday at Winged Foot is the only time DeChambeau and Wolff have played together on the PGA TOUR.

Though DeChambeau has the advantage from a statistical standpoint, Wolff has shown that he is capable of getting it past the TOUR’s driving-distance leader. The most notable occurence came on Winged Foot’s ninth hole, where both players made eagle. DeChambeau’s tee shot went 375 yards but Wolff hit it 13 yards past him.

Their contrasting styles and the friendship between their coaches that was formed on a short, scruffy public course in Southern California has created an interesting storyline. DeChambeau is a devotee of physics. Wolff creates speed with a unique, athletic move that is a carry-over from his baseball days. Their coaches, Chris Como and George Gankas, have become two of the game’s hottest coaches after getting their start at the 5,000-yard Westlake Golf Course. 

Wolff, who last year became the first player since Tiger Woods to win the NCAA individual title and a PGA TOUR event in the same year, has finished in the top four in the last two majors as he’s shown an increased consistency to go along with his incredible length. 

Before this trio slugs it out at TPC Summerlin, let’s take a look at the tale of the tape. You’ll see that DeChambeau leads almost every distance-related stat, but now he gets to go toe-to-toe with two of his closest competitors and prove it on the course.

First, let’s start with the traditional stats. Because this new season is so young, we used the final stats from the 2020 season to compare their performance off the tee. Average driving distance is calculated from the tee shots on two pre-determined holes per round; the two driving-distance holes often run in opposite directions, to mitigate the effect of wind, and are longer holes where players are expected to hit driver. Driving distance (all) measures every tee shot a player hits on a par-4 or par-5.