AUGUSTA, Ga. — Bryson DeChambeau says he’s figured out his putting at Augusta National Golf Club. One day after, DeChambeau one-putted 11 greens and took just 24 putts, he added eight more one putts – plus a holed bunker shot – en route to shooting 4-under 68 in the 89th Masters to sit alone in second place, one shot off the lead held by Justin Rose.
“Anytime I hear a player say he’s figured out his putting, he’s dangerous,” said ESPN’s Curtis Strange.
DeChambeau opened with back-to-back rounds in the 60s for the first time at the Masters. A year ago, the 31-year-old was in contention at Augusta National until he shot a third-round 75 and blamed it on a balky putter. “I’m going to look back on this and try to figure out how to putt well,” he said after the third round a year ago.
So far, so good.
“I really took it to heart to practice my speed control because out here, it's all about speed control, 2-putting from a 40-, 50-foot over a big mound and whatnot,” he said. “That was a big problem I had last year in the third round was just not starting on the line, and this week I found something to help start on the line a little more consistently for me.”
DeChambeau said he found something with the putter at Pinehurst when he won the 2024 U.S. Open in June, but since the British Open the following month he has been plagued by pulling putts.
“For me, I had not been putting great this season. A little streaky for me. Just not starting it on my line, feeling that same pull like I did last year,” he said. “All the way up till this week, I was like, ‘Man, why am I pulling it?’ I can't figure out why I'm pulling it. Tried everything in the book. And then Connor, my manager, and I were just talking about it, and he goes, ‘Why don't you just feel like you open the face but take it down the line more and don't let it go inside?’
“I tried to open the face before, and it just felt weird. But once I went down the line and opened the face more straight back, straight through, it just worked. Felt like I wasn't pulling it anymore. So sometimes it's just one little thing.”
That one little thing could be the difference this week in DeChambeau earning his third career major and first Green Jacket. Other than when he gunned his birdie putt 12 feet past the hole and took three putts at No. 16 on Friday, DeChambeau has shown exquisite touch around the greens, taking 51 putts so far. That’s 12 less than two years ago when he missed the cut, and he would have to take 64 whacks the next two rounds to tie his total of 115 putts from last year.
Has DeChambeau solved the Rubik's Cube that is Augusta's greens? If so, he certainly will be dangerous this weekend.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Masters 2025: Bryson DeChambeau said he has figured out putting
