Bryson DeChambeau's changeup aids early PGA Championship edge - ESPN

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — About the only thing Bryson DeChambeau has transformed more than his golf swing during his career has been his body. After bulking up to hit the ball farther off the tee a few years ago, DeChambeau has slimmed down considerably to conserve energy.

That change, along with a series of others, finally led to some positive results in the opening round of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on Thursday. DeChambeau had six birdies and two bogeys and took the early lead with a 4-under 66.

«The emotions have definitely fluctuated pretty high and pretty low, thinking I have something and it fails and going back and forth,» said DeChambeau, the former No. 4 player who has since fallen to No. 214 in the Official World Golf Ranking. «It's humbling. Golf, and life, always [has] a good way of kicking you on your you-know-what when you are on your high horse. It's nice to feel this today.»

DeChambeau, who says he weighs between 210 and 215 pounds, has changed his diet from a daily intake of 5,000 calories to about 2,900. He has stopped eating foods that inflame his body, including corn, wheat, gluten and dairy products. DeChambeau said he lost 18 pounds in 24 days after he started the diet in August.

«It was crazy,» DeChambeau said. «It wasn't fat. It was all water weight. You know how I looked before. I was not skinny.»

Those weren't the only changes DeChambeau made in his life. The 2020 U.S. Open champion jumped from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, where he is captain of Crushers GC. He changed his equipment company, caddie and swing coach as well.

Through increased strength and swing speed, DeChambeau once believed he could conquer professional golf with brute force. He once boasted about Augusta National Golf