Artist & Scientist: DeChambeau Looks To Make US Am History

Derek Bard faces Bryson DeChambeau in Sunday's U.S. Amateur final at Olympia Fields, but all eyes will be on the SMU senior DeChambeau.

Not only are all of his club shafts the same length, but throw in the Hogan cap, the intensity, the painful slowness and the electric game, and you have the makings of a future star.

Jeff Babineau at Golfweek.com writes:

Watching DeChambeau this week has been like seeing the electronic rabbit make its way around the inside rail at the greyhound track. He stays tantalizingly close and at times appears catchable, then shows a different gear than the rest and pulls away.

Ryan Lavner wrote before Saturday's play about Bryson's approach, noting the weird mix of artistry and science to DeChambeau's game.

No, he doesn’t intimidate with big drives, flashy iron play or sublime putting. But his methodical approach to the game and hole-to-hole consistency can exasperate opponents and force them into mistakes.

Lavner also notes that DeChambeau has a chance to join Nicklaus, Woods, Mickelson and Moore as the only winners of the NCAA individual title and the U.S. Amateur in the same year.

DeChambeau, a 21-year-old senior at SMU, could join Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Ryan Moore as the only players to win the NCAA Championship and U.S. Amateur in the same year.

Dave Shedloski sets up the final with this "tale of the tape" of the finalists. Jessica Marksbury interviews them after their Saturday wins (and likely Masters berths).

And if you were still unsure about Bryson being a bit different, John Strege found this tweet confirming this is one different young man. He signs his name backwards, if he feels like it.

Here is Tracy Wilcox's Golfweek.com photo gallery from Saturday. It wins 7&6 over the USGA's gallery that has way too many photos of rules officials, lameduck presidents and other non-competitors.

Final day coverage is on Fox from 3-6 ET. Not only should the golf be fun, but Greg Norman's struggle to act interested in golfers other than himself will surely prove exciting!

Time To Lose The Secret Walker Cup Selection Process

Ryan Lavner at GolfChannel.com has been a longtime watcher of the Walker Cup selection process and points out that while an unenviable task, is the only "Cup" with a points list kept private.

Lavner writes:

Nitpicking résumés of elite players who don’t compete against each other every week is an unenviable task, which makes it even more bizarre that the USGA doesn’t make its decisions more transparent. 

The Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and Solheim Cup all have points lists. The USGA says there is an internal system that spits out numbers and weighs such factors as strength of schedule, but it chooses not to make that information public. 

That’s a mistake.

Making that list public would eliminate two things: (1) the unnecessary stress for players who are flying around the country in a desperate attempt to impress a secretive committee, and (2) most of the second-guessing that comes after an important decision that defines their amateur careers.

When asked how transparent the committee has been over the past few months, former Virginia standout Denny McCarthy – the favorite to land one of the final spots – said: “I literally have no idea. I can’t control what they do. The only thing I can control is the golf I play and my emotions. Hopefully I can play some really solid golf this week and leave no doubt in their mind that I should be a part of this team.”