Masters rookie Bryson DeChambeau picking up lessons

While golf is a game of patience, a quick mind serves Bryson De­Chambeau well.

The Masters Tournament rookie was asked Tuesday about playing a practice round with veterans Phil Mick­elson, Dustin Johnson and Kee­gan Bradley. Was money exchanged?

“I’m an amateur,” DeCham­beau said without hesitation about side wagers. “No, we didn’t even talk about that. That’s not a thing we were trying to accomplish. We were just trying to have a friendly match.”

A wise answer from a 22-year-old who has gained perhaps more attention for his analytical mind than his extraordinary accomplishments on the golf course. How many golfers are asked two days before their Masters debut whether golf is a science or an art?

“It’s a mesh of the two,” said the former physics major at Southern Methodist University. “If you can beautifully mesh the art and science of it to enhance your game, there’s no downside to it.”

DeChambeau, the world’s top-ranked amateur, won the 2015 NCAA championship followed by the U.S. Amateur last summer. Only five players have done both in the same year, and the other four are pretty strong: Jack Nicklaus, Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Ryan Moore.

DeChambeau left Southern Methodist University last fall after NCAA sanctions against the program and focused on his game, including pro tournaments around the world. He will join the pro ranks at the RBC Heritage next week on Hilton Head Island, S.C. But first, he’s getting the benefits of being the U.S. Amateur champion, which includes a Masters invitation and the traditional pairing for the first two rounds with the defending champion.

His first round tee time is 9:48 a.m. Thursday with Jordan Spieth and Paul Casey.

“Super thrilled,” DeChambeau said. “Can’t wait. Cannot wait.”

He described his relationship with Spieth as friendly, and the fellow 22-year-old already “messed” with him by sneaking up on him at a PGA Tour event. He promises to “mess with him, too,” this week, but mostly it’s about learning from Spieth.

“I’ve learned how he’s gone about doing certain things in certain situations,” DeChambeau said, noting how Spieth “reacts to certain people when somebody says something to him.”

The California-born DeCham­beau, like Texan Spieth, played a practice round at Au­gusta National with two-time Masters champ and native Texan Ben Crenshaw and his famed caddie Carl Jackson. DeChambeau raved Tuesday about the experience, and hopes to follow “the same tracks as Jordan did.”

“We’re in a completely different place now than we were before I played with Mr. Crenshaw and had the chance to walk around with Carl,” he said. “His knowledge and wisdom is immense.”

Where DeChambeau varies from Spieth – and everyone, really – is his commitment to using irons and wedges of equal length with the same lie angle, shaft and grip. It’s a scientific approach to the game that dates back to at least 1969, when Homer Kelley wrote the book The Golfing Machine.

It changed his golf career and “could possibly change the game,” he told Mike Schy, whom he considers his “second dad” and source of “spiritual guidance” as well as his golf coach.

“I believe I’ve gotten here for a reason, and that reason is because I believe in what I do,” DeChambeau said Tuesday.