DeChambeau dominated the build-up to November’s Masters after blasting his way to a six-shot win in the US Open two months earlier. Claiming that he viewed the course as a par 67 due to his length off the tee meant there was an element of schadenfreude to the reaction to his eventual tie for 34th, but DeChambeau has pledged to maintain his attacking approach and won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March before finishing third in the Players Championship. A new driver with reportedly just 4.5 degrees of loft could produce more feats of prodigious hitting to dismay the traditionalists.
Jordan Spieth
There ll be no crowds when Dustin Johnson defends his US Masters title at Augusta.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Johnson s 20-under total at the Covid-delayed tournament at Augusta National Golf Club last November broke the Masters all-time scoring record and delivered the American his second major title.
But in his last three tournaments he finished tied for 54th at the World Golf Championships at The Concession, tied for 48th at the Players Championship and failed to qualify for the final 16 knockout phase of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event.
The hard-hitting 36-year-old said those results were not representative of where his game is now.
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The rite of spring returns - the Masters is back where it belongs on the calendar as the turf firms and azaleas bloom - and several gripping storylines have been married to the improved course conditions. The humdrum one-off November edition, which saw balls stopping dead on soft greens at a patronless course, can be consigned to history.
Dustin Johnson is targeting back-to-back Masters titles (Niall Carson/PA)
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Dustin Johnson believes he is rounding into form as he attempts to become just the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters titles.
Johnson won the Saudi International for the second time in three years in February and followed up with a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour in his next start, but has struggled to hit top form since.