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DELL TECHNOLOGIES CHAMPIONSHIP

September 3, 2018

Bryson DeChambeau

Boston, Massachusetts

NICK PARKER: I'd like to welcome Bryson DeChambeau, to the interview room, winner of the 2018 Dell Technologies Championship. Winner of the first two FedExCup playoff events and the FedExCup points leader, how does that sound?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Pretty darn good to me. I wouldn't have written it any better, to be honest with you. I've been playing some great golf this whole year. And I knew it was a matter of time before something cool showed up.

Q. What does it mean to be only the second golfer to win the first two legs, and how would you compare to victory to last week's?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: This one, honestly, down the stretch was a lot more difficult. I saw Cameron was making a run. And unfortunately didn't finish out the way I thought he would -- fortunate for me.

But it was difficult. 13, 14, 15, 16 were not easy holes. And you had to execute shots out there when the wind was swirling all day. Once I got to the back nine I felt like it was swirling again just like Thursday and Friday.

But I was fortunate enough to hit shots in the right place, miss it in the right place, and make a couple of key, clutch putts.

Q. (No microphone.)
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Look, anytime you can do that and be in that class is pretty special. And I'm not going to say anything bad ever about that, because that's pretty darn cool, there's nothing really more to say.

Q. Couple of quick ones. Where does this one kind of rank given the names that are on the leaderboard behind you?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, you know, I've won in some pretty good fields now and I don't know if I can place it exactly where it is -- where it should be. I have no clue. I haven't thought that far ahead yet, I just won and taking it all in. Last week was pretty good. Memorial I think was a big victory for me in just escalating me to a new level. I can't really place a number on it yet.

Q. And just in terms of if someone had said to you going back to last summer, last spring, even --
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I would have told them I don't believe it. I don't believe it. Because there was a lot that had to change in order for me to get here. And I was fortunate enough to have a great team around me. My coach, Mike Schy, my agent, Brett, the SIK putter guys, Greg Harrison, Steve Harrison, and my caddie, Tim. All of us have put in a combined effort. And then Como has been helping me out a bit, Chris Como. All of them have combined to help me be the player I am today. It's been a lot of work and I can tell you that it's paying off.

Q. You mentioned the change. What change --
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I can't name all of them. There's literally probably over about 30 changes.

Q. But even going back to the British and the kind of meltdown you had there?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I don't think it was a meltdown. I was just frustrated on the driving range, come on guys.

Look, I was at a different level at that point in time relative to last year at this time. I was still hitting the ball in the fairways, but it wasn't up to my standard. And so I was trying to figure out why it wasn't up to my standard. I built something really, really consistent in the beginning of the year and I kind of lost it. Kind of got lucky finding it. And now I'm starting to understand why I was so good in the beginning of the year. And that's kind of a scary thought for me, at least, because it shows what I can do, and especially with the last couple of weeks. It's a good combination.

Q. The 18th hole probably looked a little more interesting to the outside world than it was for you?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah.

Q. Can you walk me through the drive where you let go of the club and the layup was a little dicey?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Look, I actually thought I hit a really good shot. It bounced left. The wind picked up and came off to the right -- let's take the second shot first. The wind picked up and up pushed it more left than I thought. And it hit in the left -- I think it was the first cut, and just bounced into the rough. I knew anything short of the hazard to the left I could chip it up and be perfectly fine. I wasn't about to hit a 4-iron off a downhill, side hill lie, with a wind sometimes going in and sometimes coming off the right. I had no clue what it was going to do. If it was a consistent wind I could have gone for it.

But then the drive, I just heeled it a bit and when I one hand it it it's usually to try to close the face. I was able to do that and get that thing back in the fairway. I mean it wasn't going to go very far right. It was just more of a protective thing to get that thing back in the fairway.

Q. Third shot to the green, was that a pretty easy shot?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It was one of the hardest wedge shots that I've ever hit, 60 degree shots I've ever hit, all things considering. It was a decent, but it was sitting up in the rough. And all I knew that you I had to do was get it on the green and two putt. That was my biggest goal. And so once I saw it come out of the rough in the air I was like, that's perfect. It's done. But it was not easy. We were still going through a process in trying to execute the right shot and hit a good shot.

Q. Now that you've won, any suspense from at least one of Jim Furyk's picks on Tuesday? Can you explain what led you to go to the Ryder Cup as a spectator in Minneapolis? And then a quick thing about today, when you saw that Phil posted a 63, was there any thought in your mind like someone could come up behind us really quickly?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I'll answer the second question first. I thought that 17 was going to do it. I was fortunate enough that 16 did it. And that was kind of the goal that I had in mind today. If I could shoot 5-under I'd be pretty solid. I knew it was out there. I saw a couple of low numbers, I think Aaron Wise shot a low number, too. It's different when you're in the lead. You've got all the pressure and all that. So it was great to be able to shoot 4-under, all things considered.

The first question, I wanted to experience it. I wanted to be a part of that atmosphere and get comfortable with that. So hopefully if I do make it this year that all things considered I'd be more comfortable when I got there. That was really the reason why I went there.

Q. How much better can you get? Is is that easy to quantify?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: How much better can I get? Oh, man, in short, layman's terms, yes, absolutely, you can always get better. How much? I would say it depends on what I can do in the restrictions of my biomechanics. So it's all about air, air tolerances and being able to be more sensitive -- less sensitive to air. So that when you do feel like you mess up it's not going to be that big of a mess up. I hope that makes sense.

Q. On a scale of one to ten?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, my gosh, I'm not going to quantify that because I can't tell the future. I don't know what the future has, but I can say there is another level.

Q. That works.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Okay.

Q. When Vijay won the first two in 2008 he basically just had to stay upright to win the FedExCup title. And the format has changed. How do you come to grips that even though you've won these first two, you still have business to attend to at East Lake?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, you know, it is what it is, and I've still got to focus on doing the absolute best I can each and every week. I can't get caught up in the fact that I'm No. 1. I can't get caught up in the fact that I won the past two weeks. Everybody starts at even par next week. We're all fresh. And there's going to be a winner on Sunday. So it could be anybody out of the 70 that are there. I've just got to play better than all of them.

Q. At one point during the back nine the lead that you had got to about one shot. How aware are you of what other players are doing, and how does it potentially change the processes by which you go about playing and trying to do your best on the course?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it affects me tremendously, but in a positive way. I love knowing where I'm at, solely because I can make good decisions that allow me the best chance to win coming down the stretch. On the first three days it's like just playing -- you're trying to play your absolute best. Back nine is when you start going, okay, where am I, what do I need to do and what can I do, as well, under the conditions at hand. So that decision to lay up was a no-brainer after we thought about it and I knew Cameron made bogey. Justin Rose finished at 14. I knew I had to lay up no matter what. The wind was too variable. It made me lay up. And luckily I was able to lay up in a place there was enough room and I was able to scoot it up on the green.

Q. We asked you last week your comfort level, now being one of the young stars, when compared to Jordan and Justin. And you seemed kind of reluctant for that idea. Now that you've done it now back-to-back, can you kind of wrap your mind around that you've reached that level?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I mean people can put that title on me, but I'm not going to, never will, because I'm just a player out here trying to do my absolute best. And I'll say that every single time. It is cool to have people say that to you. And it is an honor, it really is. At this moment going forward, though, I'm just going to keep going about my business and doing what I can do. But it is cool. You can say that or other people can say that. I don't know if that answered your question. Sure, you can say it.

Q. You're an interesting situation in that you're going to be the No. 1 seed for East Lake regardless of what happens next week. Knowing that there's still a tournament next week, how do you approach that sort of reset for the TOUR Championship and knowing that things will still be up in the air despite the fact that you've won these first two events?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Look, if a guy wins the first three playoff events, if that was ever to happen, you're still not guaranteed that you're going to win the FedExCup. So no matter what there's always a job to do. And every week we start fresh at even par. So this week, it's funny I say that, this week I've got to regroup, sit down, analyze what we could have done better out here and make those changes for next week so I can perform at a better level.

Q. I'm just curious over the years as you came up in this sport what level, if any, sort of skepticism or push back you encountered due to your unique approach to the game and your clubs. How would you characterize it if it was there, at all?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I think when I was starting to do my one legged iron stuff there were a couple of colleges that just stopped talking to me. My dad didn't think it was a great idea. I love my dad to death, but we butted heads. But obviously it works now. And we're in a great relationship and everything. I've had quite a bit of resistance. There's only been a few people that have really helped keep pushing me in the right direction, saying hey, Bryson, you're doing the right thing, keep doing it, just keep figuring things out. And Mike, my coach, was a big part of that. And my mom was a big, huge part of that. My brother, Garrett, was a big part of that and a few of the friends that I'd go play golf with out there on Saturday afternoon, they always encouraged me, too, even though they thought I was crazy, they'd still encourage me. There was a lot of resistance moving up through the ranks, but once I won a few events at the junior level and made it to the U.S. Amateur, and U.S. Open it started to progress in the right direction.

Q. Does your dad use single length clubs now?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yep.

Q. How long has he been doing that?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, man, probably about almost a year and a half.

Q. You spoke so well last week about having to work harder than everyone else. You are human. Is it at all possible that with more success there's ever going to be a time where you kind of rest on your laurels and not work as hard?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, that comes about in a fantastic way, and what I mean by that is there's an idea that I have that I don't know if it's possible but there's a potential for me to work less and get better. That's the goal for me. To be able to work less and get even better than I am now. Not have to work as many hours to get good or get better. Instead of working six hours to move up a percentage point, you work one hour to move up two percentage points. That's what I'm trying to figure out.

Q. (No microphone.)
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: In the last year I've cut my work dramatically, as I've progressed in the right direction, with my biomechanics and stuff, I have decreased it. But there have been times where I've had to dig it out of the dirt.

Q. How much did you draw on last week?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I did. I did on the back nine, actually. When I got to a four-shot lead on 11, after 11, I think, I said, all right, this is now kind of like last week, and let's keep the focus, keep executing the right shots and hit it into the middle of the greens and making great strokes on putts. Hopefully they go in, if it don't, just tap it in. And just keep moving forward in that way. I tried to do that. And leaked a little oil on 13 and sure enough a couple made birdies like I thought. And I was mentally strong enough to make that 5-footer on 14, which was huge. And make the birdie on 15. A nice 3-wood and a wedge close to give me a little bit of cushion. And on 16 I was not going for that flag. I just hit it out to the right and two-putted. That's what I did and almost made birdied on 17 and 18.

Q. How much does this win kind of validate your unique process with the biomechanics, one length clubs, et cetera?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, absolutely. I'm playing golf at the highest level and winning at the highest level. And I'm consistently performing at the highest level. So there has to be some validity to it. Is everybody going to do it? No. But it works for me and I believe this it's going to benefit me in the future, as well.

Q. After last week you said that you play golf to execute great shots. You singled out the drive on 17 as one shot. Did you have any today?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, 15. The 3-wood out there and the wedge to eight feet. That was it, that's how I play golf right there. Make that birdie and come off the green confident.

Q. You kind of addressed this yesterday about Tiger. Why do you think you'd be a potential good pairing if you're both picked? There's a lot of if's in there.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I think that we roll off of each other well. And what I mean by that is we spur each other on with great shots. And he's got a pretty massive crowd behind them that I've actually -- tried yesterday to use to my advantage. We they were just kind of pumping me up. When I saw Tiger made birdie, it pumped me up, okay, I can do it, I can make birdie. Instead of going, oh, my gosh.

It was fun to be able to bounce back and forth with him. And I think we could be a great team out there, working hard and getting our job done and hopefully like I said a few weeks ago, maybe pushing the pedal to the metal and, I don't really want to say it, but I think maybe we can potentially intimidate a couple of people out there. I think it would be kind of cool.

Q. I just wanted to ask you how you would describe what in your personality sort of allowed you to withstand the criticism, how would you describe your personality to not change?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, I had an idea and that idea stuck in my brain so deep, because of a few principles of -- I'm limiting my biomechanics. That was actually the biggest thing. Once I saw that I was taking variables out of the golf swing not having to move up and down, that was the single biggest variable that allowed me to say no matter what people say I'm still going to stick to this and try to figure out how to utilize this to my advantage. That idea of not changing posture, in a sense, allowed me to keep sticking with it. This is going to be over the course of time way better for me. That's the best I can give you.

Q. I guess I was thinking more just like stubbornness or something, confidence in yourself or something?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, yeah, very stubborn, for sure, I'm very, very stubborn, Tim knows it well. My agent knows it well. My dad knows it well.

Q. You said just a minute ago when you talk about some of the shots that you hit the way you see, and that's why I play golf. What about the trophy, what about 3.2 million over the last few weeks, where does that fit in in why you play golf?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: That's pretty far down the line. It's very, very, very nice, and I would never say anything bad about it. And I'm always grateful for what the PGA Tour has allowed me to do, the FedExCup, everybody in the organization. It's obviously incredible. But the reason I play golf is to hit that great shot under pressure. And it's a hell of a lot of fun when you can do that.

Q. Just out of curiosity, do you recall the first science project you ever did, like in elementary school, right?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Funny enough I was actually trying to come up with a theory that -- should I even say this --

Q. Go for it.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: All right. Yeah. My first science project I had a theory about gravity. That gravity actually pushed outward and not inward. That's going to throw you guys for a loop. It actually got pretty high up there in the science fair. It was pretty well explained. And I had a couple of interesting theories about it. And I described it very, very well. And that was like in 6th, 7th grade, I think it was. But it was pretty much gravity that was just pushing in the opposite direction.

Q. (No microphone.)
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No. Well, no, I felt like -- what I mean by that is if you want to -- I'm not going to get into it (laughter).

But there's a greater force that's actually pushing outward to allow the ball to go down. So it's like -- long story short, I'd have to take a couple of minutes for you to get that. Sorry.

Q. Do you feel like you're more respected or more liked by your peers and does the lack of one bother you at all?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I don't think it bothers me at all. Again, I've always been a guy that's been weird and unique relative to everybody else, what they think about me. I've always gone about my business trying to do the absolute best I can. Let today's garbage be better than yesterday's. And so I don't view people's criticism as a negative thing. I actually view it as a positive thing, because what people can't understand sometimes is actually a benefit to the person that does understand it.

Q. You talked earlier about everybody starts basically from scratch on Thursday. I'm just curious, though, given your form, do you think it's easier to win three straight because the percentages seem to suggest otherwise, it's harder to win three straight?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, going back to statistics, it would be harder to win three in a row. But I've got a couple of days to prepare on a golf course I've never seen before. And by tomorrow afternoon I'm already back on the course grinding away and working on a different strategy and trying to figure out how I can best play this golf course, manage myself throughout this golf course. And if I keep executing shots well I'm going to give myself a chance, just like these last few weeks.

Q. You mentioned the desire to make the good shot under pressure and that's what keeps you coming out. How many are those in a round or on a weekend? You mentioned one. Is it that one shot you're going to go away smiling about?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, there's multiple, but relative levels of shots. My favorite shot out there today was on 15. But the drive I hit on 14, piping it right down the middle, that was great. 11, that iron shot, nice little draw in there that just didn't clear the top of the ridge. But it was still -- stayed up there. Certain shots like that allow me to keep moving forward in the right direction. I remember all of them. But the ones that really stick out, like 15, are the ones that do matter the most. But I do appreciate the others, as well.

NICK PARKER: Congratulations, Bryson, thank you.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Thank you.

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