OWINGS MILLS, Maryland — Bryson DeChambeau scorched Caves Valley with a 60 on a 94-degree, high-humidity Friday at the BMW Championship.
DeChambeau was bogey-free and made 12 under look stunningly simple.
For his new caddie Brian Zeigler, who’s working only his fourth tournament with the superstar, Friday’s 60 felt pretty darn good to be a part of.
What stood out to the teaching professional from Dallas National?
“Watching my guy hit good shots,” Zeigler smiled. “It was a really good day. We had a lot of good distances into par 5s. We hit some really, really good shots into these four par 5s and that made it much easier. Two eagles out there was such a big bonus to get us there.”
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No doubt. And on the 16th, DeChambeau nuked an 8-iron nearly 240 yards from the rough to inside three feet. Pretty impressive.
Though the ball-striking was on form Friday, Zeigler also felt good about their green-reading and DeChambeau’s stroke. Unlike most player-caddie workloads, the two will read every putt together, and they did so pretty intently on Friday.
“We were synched up on a lot of our reads today which always helps,” Zeigler said. “He also really executed as well and hit some pretty awesome shots, so that was pretty neat to see.”
So did anything change from Thursday to Friday that allowed DeChambeau to flip a switch?
Not really, just good old execution.
“It was one shot at a time out there, he’s very much process-oriented and we were talking through every single shot and getting every number and going over it and then he goes in and he commits to that shot,” Zeigler said. “Today he obviously hit a lot of really good ones.”
Zeigler likes DeChambeau’s “laser-focus” inside the ropes thus far in the four tournaments he’s caddied.
And part of that laser-focus is what DeChambeau allows himself to talk about with Zeigler. So did they discuss down the stretch anything about a 59?
“We had no discussion about it,” Zeigler said.
Each player and caddie obviously communicate and discuss what’s important to them, and in this case they just felt silence was the best approach.
For Zeigler, who has never been a professional caddie, the opportunity to loop for DeChambeau gives him a chance to practice shot selection with a player. That is one of the most rewarding aspects of work for him.
“I don’t view my job as caddying, it seems to me like a continuous playing lesson,” Zeigler said. “Plus, one of my favorite parts about teaching is shot selection in playing lessons. I get to do one of my favorite parts of teaching all the time.”
Though Zeigler is quick to clear up that Chris Como is DeChambeau’s teacher, and he’s more of the guy who bounces ideas off of DeChambeau and Como.
“There are some things I can help with,” Zeigler said. “When Bryson does have questions about things, I’m the first person he bounces ideas off of.”
It’s interesting to note that Zeigler did have a conversation with Como Friday morning about their expectations for Bryson’s game and performance.
“We said that our expectation level for Bryson is that he play at a high level and hit shots like he did today all the time, which is great, it’s so much fun to see,” Zeigler said. “It’s fun to be around that.”
Zeigler gets a thrill from the intense competition on Tour because he’s been playing PGA section events for the last eight years. Zeigler’s still teaching Gerina Pillar, though mostly via FaceTime as he’s on the road much more with DeChambeau.