Top women golfers also watching Bryson DeChambeau, say Solheim Cup captains

Bryson DeChambeau claimed his maiden major win in the 120th US Open after bulking up by 40 pounds in the past year. Picture: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Bryson DeChambeau's "Fosbury flop moment" in golf is also set to motivate top women golfers to hit the gym in a bid to overpower courses, according to rival Solheim Cup captains Pat Hurst and Catriona Matthew.

After bulking up by 40 pounds in the past year, DeChambeau used a combination of brute strength and a silky touch on and around the greens to claim a maiden major title with a six-shot success in the 120th US Open at Winged Foot on Sunday.

Assessing the 27-year-old's display in the season's second men's major, former Ryder Cup player Ken Brown likened it to the high jump technique created by the 1968 Olympic gold medallist, Dick Fosbury, essentially inferring it could be a game-changing achievement that would forever alter how the sport is played.

"I have to say that golfers are definitely more athletic now than they were even 10 years ago, so he's changing a lot, and I think everybody is watching it," said Hurst, the US Solheim Cup captain, as she agreed that DeChambeau's approach can also have an influence on the women's game. "He just won the US Open and everybody wants to be like the top player."

Concurring, Matthew said: "Even the women are more athletic, they're working out more, trying to get stronger. Obviously as women we just can't put on that muscle mass that Bryson has. But I definitely think the players are getting stronger.

"On the ladies' Tour, everyone is hitting it further. Obviously it's just not quite the same extreme as the men are doing. But, yeah, everyone is just trying to get that little edge that might just take them to the next level.

"I'm sure a lot of the women will be watching Bryson and heading into the gym and trying to put on a little bit more muscle."

On a jocular note, Hurst added: "Hell, I've tried to gain that weight and be a little bit longer. I don't think it helped me. Now I'm trying to lose the weight!"

The two captains were speaking during a media roundtable interview in the build up to next year's Solheim Cup in Toledo, Ohio, where Norwegian Suzann Pettersen will be one of Matthew's vice-captains.

After holing the winning putt in last September's match at Gleneagles, Pettersen announced her retirement and, just over a year on, the 39-year-old insisted she has no regrets about that decision.

"The everyday structure I really miss, waking up always knowing what's on the schedule to do," she said. "I miss the girls. I miss being out on tour, travelling from week to week. You kind of miss that buzz.

"The one thing I'm not missing is the frustration and the sleepless nights trying to figure out how to play this game, and waking up not feeling guilty or bad that you haven't done enough.

"But I do miss the feeling of being ready, when you've felt the best and couldn't wait to go to the first tee and tee it up. But my life is in a different spot now, and I must say the sleep I get at night now feels a lot better than all the frustration I had over 20 years."

After being handed a captain's pick by Matthew for the match in Perthshire despite playing just twice in just under 24 months as she took time off to have a baby, Pettersen kept her neve to roll in a birdie putt on the 18th to defeat Marina Alex and give the Europeans a sensational one-point victory at Gleneagles.

"I don't necessarily pull it up unless it kind of falls right in front of me on social media," replied the two-time major winner to being asked about how often she'd seen replays of that sweet moment, "but it's obviously a great memory that will go with me forever.

"Some of those memories last a lifetime, and I was just very fortunate and lucky to be part of such a great team."

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