Rory McIlroy struggled and Jordan Spieth was even worse in the first round of a muddy 2025 PGA Championship.
But one of the smartest golfers on the planet is again in contention at a major, and Bryson DeChambeau is set up for a weekend run if he can safely navigate the second round at Quail Hollow – where players have been moaning about the muddy conditions.
“He’s turned into a complete player, hasn’t he?” Rich Beem, a Sky Sports golf analyst, exclusively told talkSPORT.
“You talk about a guy who has reinvented himself probably numerous times now.”
DeChambeau joined a long list of names tied-for-46th on Thursday, finishing at even after a first round that saw McIlroy at three-over par and Spieth reach five-over.
Jhonattan Vegas initially figured out Quail Hollow, taking over first place at seven-under, with Ryan Gerard and Cam Davis tied-for-second at five-under.
A strong second round could ignite DeChambeau, who finished a stroke behind Xander Schauffele in the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
The 31-year-old ‘Mad Scientist’ then won the US Open, edging McIlroy and creating heartbreak for the Northern Ireland golfer that wouldn’t fully heal until McIlroy finally won the Masters in 2025.
In major after major, DeChambeau has shot himself to the top of the leader board, blending his unique power game with a surprisingly smooth approach on the greens.
“When COVID hit and he said, ‘I’m going to start bulking up and I’m going to start hitting the ball as far as I possibly can,’ We’re all like, ‘What in the world are you doing, man?’” Beem said.
“I mean, you got a great repeatable swing and … (he) proved us all wrong by going out there and demolishing the field.
“Rarely do you look at Bryson and say, ‘Listen, this guy’s got a US Open kind of game going. Really? But he does — he does. And his short game is severely underrated. He does it his own way.”
GettyDeChambeau had to let off a little steam at Quail Hollow[/caption]
After DeChambeau’s solid first round on Thursday, the course could even out and work more in the favor of the sport’s bigger names.
“What we’re going to see at Quail Hollow is going to be a set up where the rough is going to be absolutely penalizing,” Beem said.
“I think that the course should be firm and fast. And with his strength, there’s no reason why he can’t go out there and win it.
“Again, he’ll have to rely on his short game like he did at Augusta National. That’s got to be spot on. What he didn’t have, though, was the ball striking at Augusta National.
“He drove it OK. The irons were really poor. That’s why his short game did bail him out the first three days. And he wasn’t able to continue that on the final day.”
DeChambeau will soon surpass more than 2 million YouTube followers and has shared a course with US President Donald Trump.
But the two-time major winner is much more than just a social-media sensation, and DeChambeau entered the second round ahead of McIlroy.
Now the real battle begins at Quail Hollow.
“Of course, Bryson is always going to be a threat just because he really understands,” Beem said.
“Even though he makes swings, he understands how to play the game. … Bryson has picked that up and understands, ‘Listen, the object of the game is put the ball in the holes in as few strokes as possible.’ And Bryson does that very, very well.”
Sky Sports is the home of golf. Watch live coverage of the 2025 PGA Championship exclusively on Sky Sports Golf and NOW from 15-18 May.
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