If the idea of a 3D-printed golf club isn’t confusing enough, Bryson DeChambeau did his best to further muddy the situation Thursday after a disappointing first round at the Masters.
DeChambeau had a rather awkward post-round interview about his 3D-printed 5 iron after posting a 4-over 76 that had him outside the top 50 after 18 rounds at Augusta National.
“That’s a longer conversation,” DeChambeau said when asked about the club. “Not for here.”
DeChambeau first unveiled the 3D-printed clubs during the 2024 Masters, with the United States Golf Association (USGA) having to approve them.
He explained at the time how the specifications of the clubs aid him.
“I designed them with someone from back home, and they have just got a different curvature on the face than other equipment,” DeChambeau said two years ago. “Most equipment is flat. These have a different curvature on the face that allows me to have my mis-hits to go a little straighter sometimes.”
After a poor showing Thursday that could result in him missing the cut Friday, DeChambeau detailed how the prints take eight hours but then require going through a machine for three to four hours.
The USGA process for approving the clubs includes “a robot that measures a club’s geometry and material properties, making sure they comply with the USGA’s standards,” according to The Athletic.
“And then you have to do a bunch of other stuff,” he added. “You can have something in a day and a half.”
He used the club on the seventh hole Thursday, saying it was “great” and he hit a “great second shot.”
When asked if that was something he would “want to do for the weekend for any reason,” DeChambeau made a fact and a “Pfft” sound as if the question was absurd.
“No. It has to be USGA conforming, there’s this whole process you have to go through,” he said.
Even with his fancy club, DeChambeau’s day went south Thursday when it took him three strokes to get out of the bunker on the 11th hole and he ultimately settled for a triple bogey.
Said DeChambeau: “Bunker was softer than I anticipated.”
He entered Friday nine strokes behind co-leaders Sam Burns and Rory McIlroy.
