The 150th Open: Bryson DeChambeau nears 100 per cent fitness and chasing speed training return

DeChambeau after his third-round 67 at The Open, following an injury-affected 2022: “Hopefully I can start ramping up the speeds again and get myself even more consistent.” Watch the final round live on Sunday on Sky Sports The Open

Bryson DeChambeau says he will take a different approach to speed training after The Open as he looks to return to being one of the world’s best golfers.

DeChambeau, one of the longest hitters in the sport, battled wrist and hip injuries during the first half of the year and underwent surgery on his left hand after missing The Masters in April.

The eight-time PGA Tour winner skipped the PGA Championship and struggled in his next two starts before switching to the LIV Golf Invitational Series earlier this month, where he registered his first top-10 on his debut in Portland.

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Bryson DeChambeau hit a wayward tee shot on the Road Hole at St Andrews before a fortunate ruling allowed him a line of sight relief as he made par after getting up and down from the road.

Speaking on his fitness after a third-round 67 at St Andrews, DeChambeau said: “I’m probably 97 to 98 per cent now. There’s every once in a while where my hand gets tired, fatigued still. I’m going to start speed training again after – in the month of August when I don’t have any tournaments going on for me.

“I’ve got to train my hand a lot more efficiently. I didn’t take care of that one bit when I was first speed training. It was all core and everything, and that was luckily pretty solid – I’ve never had an issue with anything in my core. I just didn’t train the hand properly. That’s what I’ll be focused on, mainly working on as I start going.

“Hopefully I can start ramping up the speeds again and get myself even more consistent. Look, I want to be one of the best golfers in the world, if not the best, at one point in time in my career. I’ve just got to make sure I’m hitting it straight while I’m hitting it further.”

DeChambeau switched from the PGA Tour to compete on the Saudi-backed LIV Series, which currently does not offer world ranking points, although the American insists he is not overly concerned by the possibility of sliding down the rankings over the coming months.

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Bryson DeChambeau shares his thoughts of the test facing the players during The Open at St Andrews

“I think over the course of time it will all work itself out,” DeChambeau said. “I think in some capacity we [golf’s tours] will find a way to co-exist and work together through this to make the best entertainment we possibly can for the world.

“When I won four times in 2018, even though I wasn’t No 1 in the world at that current point in time, I felt like my game was world No 1. There’s not necessarily a ranking system that needs to be ‘oh, this is what makes you No 1 in the world’.

“I think inherently people know who’s playing the best golf at that current point in time. If that’s the goal, that’s great as well for me. But it’s a bit of both. I think at some point we’ll resolve the situation.”

DeChambeau was six under on his third round until a four-putt double-bogey at the 16th, with the American hailing a “beautiful” par at the 17th after being forced to play off the road during a rollercoaster conclusion to his Saturday.

“It is what it is,” DeChambeau said. “It’s golf. It was definitely an adventurous few holes. I was able to get a few fortunate breaks, especially on 17 and make a beautiful par off that road, I hit it perfectly. It bounced up and rolled over beautifully. I was very lucky but definitely happy with the way I finished out.”

Where will DeChambeau finish in The 150th Open? Watch the final round live on Sunday from 8am on Sky Sports The Open. Live at The Range, Featured Holes and Featured Groups will be available via the red button on Sky Sports The Open, along with the Sky Sports website and app.