AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Bryson DeChambeau Project didn’t go as planned at the Masters this week.
DeChambeau, who entered the week as the betting favorite, finished tied for 34th place. Officially, DeChambeau finished 2-under par, 18 shots behind winner Dustin Johnson.
If you go by what DeChambeau’s estimated par is for him at Augusta National — 67 because of his length and ability to reach the par-5s in two — he finished 18 shots over par.
He finished two shots better for the week than his 63-year-old final-round playing partner, Bernhard Langer.
“At the beginning of the week I felt like I could have a great chance to win the tournament if I just played my game,” DeChambeau said. “I made way too many mistakes that I’ve got to talk about with my caddie and go, ‘Hey, how do we not make these mistakes anymore, how can we work better as a team to have that not happen?’ ’’
DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in September, didn’t come close at Augusta National. It was his fourth consecutive finish outside the top 20 at the Masters.
DeChambeau said he was still experiencing dizziness on the course on Sunday. He had a COVID-19 test on Friday night that came back negative.
“I’ve got to fix whatever is going on,” he said.
DeChambeau led the field in driving distance with a 324.4-yard average, but failed to outplay Langer, who averaged 250 yards off the tee, which was last among the 60 players in the field in the final round.
DeChambeau said he wouldn’t make another start until the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Jan. 7-10.
When Cameron Smith, the co-runner-up, was told that no player in Masters history had ever shot four rounds in the 60s, which he did this week, he said, “It would have been cool to do that and win. I’d take 15-under around here the rest of my career and I might win a couple.’’
Rory McIlroy, who finished tied for fifth, failed on his sixth attempt to become the sixth player in history to complete the career Grand Slam. He needs only a Masters win to do it.
Jon Rahm, who had a frustrating week, said he can’t wait to play the 2021 Masters in more typical Masters conditions.
“I hope they make it as firm as possible, the complete opposite of what we saw this week,’’ he said. “I was talking joking with Patrick Reed and Sebastian [Munoz] walking down the last few holes saying, ‘It’s like you almost have to hit the delete button from what you learned this week because it’s never, ever going to play like this again.’ ’’