It was justification for the methods DeChambeau used to improve his driving game. He deliberately gained a considerable amount of weight to make himself bulkier, and as a result more powerful from the tee. It is that transformation which yielded DeChambeau’s first major title, and although his methods gained scorn from many sections of the golfing community, it proved to be an effective way to maximise success in the sport. 

That improvement in driving distance is the main reason DeChambeau now finds himself as the favourite in the golf US Masters 2020 odds. The Augusta major is set to be played in the autumn for the first time, and with conditions likely to be heavier than they would be in the spring, an effective drive game will be the order of the day. 

One of the main debates in golf at the moment surrounds the distance many players can drive the ball, and whether it is detracting from the sport as a spectacle. For some, the fact that players can knock the ball over 300 yards from the tee means that much of the skill is being taken out of the game. At the end of the day, golf courses are only so big, and to have such a weapon as a long, powerful drive is crucial at the highest level. 

Of course, the theme of long-drivers having an edge in golf is nothing new – it’s the way the sport has been going for the last decade or so. DeChambeau, although his deliberate means of getting such a driving ability are novel, is by no means the first player to triumph using such technique to their advantage. 

It is one of the main reasons for Brooks Koepka’s recent success, the 30-year-old having won four majors over the last three years through a similar style of long drives, followed by pragmatic play closer to the greens. Rory McIlroy is another player who owes much of his success to his exceptional driving ability.

This trend of heavy-hitting, long-driving golf has been bubbling up for a long time now, and many feel that this growing force is detracting from the skill of golf in terms of pinpoint accuracy and precision. Players are now so adept at wedging the ball out of the rough that distance is king when it comes to lining up a drive, and this is how players like DeChambeau, Koepka and Dustin Johnson have gained so much of their success. 

There is no easy fix in terms of preventing players hitting the ball as far. It is a theme in every physical sport across the globe. Athletes are getting stronger, faster, more consistent, and as a result standards of physicality are rising all the time. The R&A and USGA recently launched an initiative called the Distance Insights project, which is geared towards examining the issue and coming up with solutions, but it may be a case of simply accepting that this is the game golf is going to become. 

We’ve seen it happen already in tennis, where height and speed of serve have become key components of many top players. Now golf is having to come to terms with this increase in the levels at which its players can perform in terms of physical aptitude. As far as DeChambeau is concerned, he is simply finding a way to win in a hugely competitive sport. 

“It’s tough to rein in athleticism,” he said after winning the US Open. “We’re always going to be trying to get fitter, stronger, more athletic. Tiger inspired this whole generation to do this and we’re going to keep going after it. Will they rein it back? I’m sure. I’m sure something might happen. But I don’t know what it will be. I just know that length is always going to be an advantage.”

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His preparations for this year’s unconventional autumnal Masters have been stilted, somewhat. While, the world number 1 is amongst the favourites when it comes to the latest US Masters golf odds, alongside Justin Thomas at 11/1 at the time of writing, he’s only recently returned to action.

With under a week to go until the Masters kicks off, Johnson has come out of isolation, after he contracted the coronavirus just last month. With one more warm-up event to play before Augusta National plays host to this year’s unusual final major of the season, Johnson will headline a series of contenders at the Houston Open. He returned to practice earlier in the week, having missed out on playing in the CJ Cup and the Zozo Championship. In fact, it was while travelling en route to the former in Las Vegas that Johnson tested positive for the virus, despite feeling “pretty much asymptomatic”, and ultimately was forced to withdraw and quarantine.

He told reporters: “I couldn’t really figure out if that was because I was stuck in a hotel room for like 11 days not doing anything or it was COVID that made me feel that way. I didn’t leave the room for 11 days; I was just laying around kind of doing nothing. It was one of those things I was, like, waiting to get sick because you know you have it and you’re sitting there. But for me it was very mild, and obviously I’m very thankful for that.”

There’s no doubt, it would have come as a shock, especially as Johnson won the FedEx Cup back in September. He finished three strokes ahead of both Schauffele and Thomas, to grab his maiden win in the tournament, but his third PGA victory of the year. Thankfully, DJ is deemed to be no longer contagious, and therefore, won’t be required to test ahead of the Houston Open or the Masters. Not only does he feel healthy, but it appears he’s overcome the knee problems which plagued the start of his season.

How he will fare at Augusta is anyone’s guess, but with a warm-up event in the bank, there’s hoping the enforced two-week break won’t have interrupted his current hot streak. 

In the last four Masters, he has cemented a top-10 finish, and is the only player in the field to record those kinds of stats for the past four editions. As well as the aforementioned T2 finish last year, DJ finished T6 in 2015, T4 the following year and after missing out in 2017, finished T10 in 2018. After last year’s performance, in which he came from T7 in the third round, to very nearly be awarded the green jacket, you could say, he’s knocking on the door – and should his form continue, it would be the fairytale ending to his topsy-turvy season.

DJ summed it up nicely with the quote he told reporters – “My health is good,” Johnson said. “The state of my game is … undetermined.” Augusta National can be notoriously unforgiving, so watch this space.

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