DETROIT - Bryson DeChambeau pounded protein shakes and pumped iron to transform his body, adding 40 pounds of mass as he changed his golf game to put a premium on power.
The plan is working.
With jaw-dropping drives and some clutch putts, DeChambeau won the Rocket Mortgage Classic by three strokes Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory of the 2019-20 season and the sixth of his career. He became the tour's first player since 2004 to lead a tournament in driving distance as well as shots gained off the tee and putting.
"This is a little emotional for me because I did do something a little different," the 26-year-old DeChambeau said. "I changed my body, changed my mindset in the game, and I was able to accomplish a win while playing a completely different style of golf. And it's pretty amazing to see that. I hope it's an inspiration to a lot of people."
DeChambeau closed with a 7-under-par 65 at Detroit Golf Club, making birdies on four of the first seven holes and finishing with three straight. His 23-under 265 is the best 72-hole score of his career.
The runner-up was Matthew Wolff (71), who started the day with a three-shot lead and hurt his chances with five bogeys over his first 10 holes. Kevin Kisner (66) finished another stroke back as part of a relatively weak field that continued the trend of exceptional play since the PGA Tour restarted after a three-month shutdown during the coronavirus outbreak.
"The level of play on tour in these first four weeks has been incredible, cuts at 4 and 5 under every week," Kisner said.
Baylor School graduate Luke List, after three rounds in the 60s, closed with a 72 to tie for 21st at 13 under.
With a strong finish, DeChambeau removed all doubt that he would win the second Rocket Mortgage Classic. He made a 30-foot birdie putt at No. 16, which he said was his shot of the day. He also had a short putt for birdie on the next hole. And finally, he uncorked a 367-yard drive to set up another short putt at 18.
DeChambeau came into the tournament with six straight top-eight finishes and was the only player with top-10 results in the first three events since the return to play. He won for the first time since the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in November 2018.
DeChambeau has dramatically altered his body, packing about 240 pounds on his 6-foot-1 frame as he took advantage of the extra time he had to work on his physique during the shutdown.
"He understands what is the key to gaining the biggest advantage and that's distance and mega distance," Kisner said. "He just has too much time on his hands. He needs to start getting married and having kids and feel like the rest of us."
DeChambeau's power was on full display in the Motor City with drives that went 351 yards on average after looking like he might swing out of his spikes. When DeChambeau was on the tee box at the 399-yard, par-4 13th, he waited for the next group to leave the green before hitting his drive so that he didn't hit any fellow competitors.
"No, I've never done that," he acknowledged. "I really could have gotten there."
His drive on the 621-yard, par-5 fourth went way left and landed in greenside rough on an adjacent hole. He cleared towering trees and landed just short of the green, sending his approach 276 yards, and he two-putted from 37 feet.
"That was probably my second-best moment of the day," DeChambeau said. "I got really quite honestly pretty lucky being able to get over these trees and let it land and roll onto the front edge of the green."
As his body and power becomes a fixation for those who follow golf, more eyes are on him, and it bothered him during Saturday's third round, when DeChambeau had a testy exchange with a TV cameraman after a bogey on the sixth hole. After the round, he bristled that it isn't right showing a potential vulnerability and hurting someone's image, though he tried to soften his stance on the matter Sunday by saying the cameraman was just trying to do his job.
During the final round, he was briefly distracted by commotion from beyond the course. While a Black Lives Matter protest was gathering outside the club, breaking the silence of the fan-free event with chants and air horns, DeChambeau took some time to reset before hitting a 366-yard drive.
"I know there's a lot of strife and trouble going on right now," he said. "I love that everybody's voicing their opinion, and I think that they deserve to do so.
"We're golfers here trying to provide the best entertainment. I think that's the most important thing that we can do."