Sir Nick Faldo has seemingly given himself the credit for Bryson DeChambeau’s impressive start to The Open Championship, with the American one shot off the lead as the morning wave concluded on Thursday.
It was an outstanding start to the final major of the year for DeChambeau, who went into the week at Royal Birkdale having missed the cut at The Masters, the PGA Championship, and the US Open.
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DeChambeau made birdies on one and two. Two bogeys in his final five holes – including one on the last – ensured that he finished the day at three under par.
Sir Nick Faldo comments on Bryson DeChambeau’s first round at The Open
His performance would have been particularly surprising to Sir Nick Faldo. Faldo claimed DeChambeau has no idea how to play links golf, having played himself out of contention on the first day last year at Royal Portrush.
Those comments have quickly come back to haunt the six-time major champion.
And when asked on Sky Sports about DeChambeau’s round in Southport, Faldo suggested that his comments gave DeChambeau a wake-up call.
“I think I rattled his cage. He has basically stuck you know what up and said Faldo, I do have strategy. So I am taking claim that I switched on the strategy play,” he said.
“You have got to have that round here. It’s rock hard. But that will be a tough man [to beat], if Scottie Scheffler is in play all week, he is going to be a tough man to beat.”
Faldo praises Scottie Scheffler after an encouraging start at Royal Birkdale
DeChambeau outshone Scottie Scheffler during the first round, with the Ryder Cup teammates playing together on Thursday, along with Tyrrell Hatton.
Scheffler also got off to an extremely fast start and went to the top of the leaderboard as he reached four under par through six holes. However, he would not make another birdie over the remainder of the round.
Nevertheless, Faldo explained what really caught his eye about the world number one’s performance as he looks to retain the Claret Jug.
“I like the look on his face, he was giving it full concentration. Drove 13 out of 14 fairways which were rock hard. Very impressive,” he said.
“He got a lovely break this morning. It was really calm for a while. But now it’s 15mph, might even go to 20, so that is going to be a significant difference for the afternoon wave.”
It will surely worry the field a lot more to see Scheffler within reach of the lead than DeChambeau.
Ultimately, DeChambeau is someone who is yet to really prove himself when it comes to links golf. He has registered just two top 10s in The Open Championship during his career.
Scheffler, once again, did not appear to have his best game for the majority of his round. But he has not made a slow start by any means.
That could be an ominous sign.
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