Bryson DeChambeau declared on Wednesday that comedian Kevin Hart, his celebrity caddie for the Masters par-three contest, had ‘one shot and fumbled.’ By the time the end of the second round rolled around, the same could be said of the big-hitting American.
DeChambeau never truly had a shot at the green jacket. That much was evident after the first round at Augusta. But he did have a shot at least at making the cut. But that shot? That wasn’t merely fumbled, that was carelessly squandered in an excruciating display.
He had been on course to narrowly sneak into the weekend. It would have been a small lifeline amid 48 hours of misery for DeChambeau. Then, he suffered a spectacular final-hole meltdown that sent him packing.
The LIV star had entered the week as one of the bookies’ favorites for the green jacket. This year’s showdown at Augusta National had been billed as the latest battle in the rivalry between DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy.
Yet, to look at the leaderboard on Friday evening, the pair didn’t even appear to be on the same battlefield, never mind the same war. Following 36 explosive holes, McIlroy was atop the leaderboard, cruising into the weekend with his defense of the green jacket in sight. As for his rival? He was sent packing.
DeChambeau’s threat to the Northern Irishman’s title defense was timid at best, atrocious at worst. He finished six-over and missed the cut, 13 shots off McIlroy’s lead.
Admittedly, he had been better off praying for a miracle on Friday, rather than considering an attack on McIlroy’s lead.
Following Thursday’s opening four-over 76, DeChambeau faced an uphill battle to make the cut. He needed divine intervention. Instead, he received another meltdown.
On Thursday, his round unraveled when he twice failed to get out of the sand at Amen Corner. That ended in a costly triple bogey and 24 hours later he suffered the same miserable fate.
Like Thursday’s capitulation, a bunker proved to be DeChambeau’s downfall. His hacked approach shot from the pine straw on 18 found sand and from there, the carnage began.
He failed to hack it out of the steep-faced left greenside bunker on the first attempt. And his second was far from safe. While he managed to at least scoop it out of the sand this time, his ball landed on the front of the green and trundled all the way down to the fringe.
By the time the ball finally disappeared into the cup and he was put out of his misery, DeChambeau had carded a triple bogey and his Masters had come to a sudden end.
In fairness, DeChambeau did appear to have been handed one saving grace. A birdie at the par-five 15th had clawed him back to three-over and just inside the cut line.
It should have been an eagle. It needed to be an eagle. But his putt down the hill drifted right of the hole and he had to settle for the birdie.
Yet, even that would not have been enough to negate the damage that unfolded at the last. As he traipsed off the 18th green, the American looked defeated. A broken shell of the man who just 12 months ago challenged McIlroy for the green jacket.
Perhaps if he had spent less time joking around with Hart, rubbing shoulders with First Granddaughter Kai Trump and manufacturing his own 3D-printed five-iron, and more time practicing his sand saves, DeChambeau may have clung to the hope of a repeat.
Or perhaps it was the age-old LIV Golf factor that once again called his green jacket credentials into question. DeChambeau wasn’t alone in his calamity. The Saudi-backed breakaway’s cohort struggled over the first round. Many failed to redeem themselves in the second.
To add insult to injury? Recent LIV deserters Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed had no issues navigating the treachery of a crips and fast Augusta National.
Reed had admitted this week that his abrupt LIV exit in January was due to wanting ‘that adrenaline back.’ Through the first two rounds, he undeniably rediscovered that thrill.
The American soared into the hunting pack in his LIV liberation with another three-under 69 on Friday.
Meanwhile, Koepka also produced a valiant 69 to claw his way to three-under for the tournament, leaving him tied-13 heading into moving day.
However, neither could match McIlroy. With a birdie at the last, the reigning champion set a new record for the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history.
Earlier this week, DeChambeau had said that it would ‘be great if we can continue that rivalry.’ On Friday, that rivalry died a torturous death as McIlroy and the Masters made a mockery of it.
