The best athletes break all sorts of new ground in pursuit of greatness, looking for that extra tiny percent that can propel them above their rivals. For Bryson DeChambeau that extra kick might be found in the most surprising of places – Epsom salt.
After taking control of the US Open with a captivating third-round performance on Saturday, the American elaborated on his habit of salting his golf balls before playing, just another aspect of his analytical approach to the game which has earned him the nickname of “The Scientist.”
“I put my golf balls in Epsom salt,” he told reporters. “Essentially we float golf balls in a solution to make sure the golf ball is not out of balance.”
His manager, Connor, was in charge of salting the golf balls, DeChambeau explained, to find out “how much out of balance” they were.
“There’s always going to be an error, especially when it’s a sphere and there’s dimples on the edges,” he added. “You can’t perfectly get it in the center.”
The heavy side of the golf ball sinks to the bottom, DeChambeau – a physics major – said, and then “we mark the top with a dot to make sure it’s always rolling over itself.”
If the weight of the ball is off-center, it can affect its trajectory, though DeChambeau added that for most of the golf balls he gets “it’s not really that big of a deal” and was more of a “big thing back in the day.”
Nonetheless, he said it was part of his preparation to be “as precise as possible” and “one more step that I do to make sure my golf ball flies as straight as it can possibly fly because I’m not that great at hitting it that straight.”
And his unorthodox approach paid dividends on Saturday as the in-form LIV Golf star rolled in six birdies on Saturday en route to a three-under 67 – the second best-score of the round – to take a giant step closer to a second US Open title, having powered to a six-shot victory at the tournament in 2020.
He sits three shots ahead of Rory McIlroy, Matthieu Pavon and Patrick Cantlay in a three-way tie for second, and will seek to defend his lead when he tees off for the fourth and final round at 2:21 p.m. ET on Sunday.
CNN’s Jack Bantock contributed reporting.
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