Bryson DeChambeau goes from villain to victor on PGA Tour

Detroit win is American’s sixth success on US circuit

There's still more to come. That was Bryson DeChambeau's message as he went from villain to victor in the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detriot.

The 26-year-old landed his sixth PGA Tour triumph in just 104 starts with a three-shot success at Detroit Golf Club, climbing to seventh in the world in the process.

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The win, which was sealed with a brilliant closing 65, came 24 hours after DeChambeau had brought unnecessary attention to himself following a confrontation with a TV cameraman.

That led to the Californian calling for players to be shielded from cameras during "a potenially vulnerable time" on the course so that it doesn't "damage our brand".

Asked about that following his win, DeChambeau said: "Look, I respect everybody and I think people took it the wrong way and I'm sorry that they did so.

"My job and my idea is never to devise anyone - not create any divisive nature, I just want to provide the best entertainment out here.

"I just felt like a minute long for videoing me was kind of a little weird, but we talked it out and it was all great and no issues, no issues whatsoever.

"So, appreciate what they do, appreciate everybody that works hard out here to provide great entertainment."

DeChambeau, who has now tasted success in four consecutive seasons on the US circuit, added 20 pounds during lockdown as he embarked on a new fitness regime.

He's now marked the restart with four top 10s, carding a combined 69-under-par in the process in the Charles Schwab Challenge, RBC Heritage, Travelers Championship and Rocket Mortgage Classic.

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"This is a little emotional for me because I did do something a little different, I changed my body, changed my mindset in the game and I was able to accomplish a win while playing a completely different style of golf," he said.

"And it's pretty amazing to see that and I hope it's an inspiration to a lot of people that if they set their mind to it, you can accomplish it. It just takes a lot of hard work, a lot of figuring out things that you may not know and understand yet.

"But, if you keep going down the line and you keep working on it, figuring stuff out, eventually you'll get a little bit better each and every day and hopefully that leads tosomething great in the end."

DeChambeau re-wrote the record books in Motor City as he became the first PGA Tour winner to lead the field in strokes gained both off the tee and in putting in the ShotLink era

"I would say the most important thing is that I played on a golf course that required unbelievable wedging and that's not one of the strong suits of my game, and I was able to win and win by a few, so that's really positive," he added.

"It means my wedge play isn't up to the best in the world, but it's definitely good enough to still compete on Tour. My driving's still good enough to compete on Tour.

"It's really exciting to be able to get the job done here and it's a lot of momentum for the majors. It gives me a lot of confidence going forward that I'm heading in the right direction with my driving and my game."

DeChambeau is taking this week off before returning for the Memorial Tournament - the second leg of a double-header at Muirfield Village in Ohio.

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"Tomorrow I'm going to Denver to work with (fitness coach) Greg Roskopf again," he said. "I'm going to be also working with NeroPeak doing some brain training stuff to see how much stronger I can get before I come back to Memorial. I'm going as hard as I can to get as strong and as big as I can.

"I've been working on my driver really hard and that's a completely different motion than my irons. So my next angle of attack is going after those irons and making sure I can control my distances as good as anyone out here."

DeChambeau has become the centre of attention since golf's restart, with the first of three rescheduled 2020 majors - the US PGA Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco - on the horizon.

"I think the most important thing is that I've shown people that there's another way to do it and there's going to be other people trying to come up and do it that way," he said.

"Whether it translates on the PGA Tour, I don't think so. I think guys are going to play their game, they're going to keep doing what they're doing, trying to utilise their biggest tools in their toolbag to play their best golf.

"For me, I think there are going to be people trying to hit it a little harder, some of them, but at the end of the day, it's going to take a generation for this to all evolve into something different.

"I really think there are going to be a lot more players down the road trying to hit it as far as they possibly can, and straight."

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