Bryson DeChambeau’s unbelievable blast leads to easy eagle

The Ryder Cup’s Four-balls format allows a player to swing with a bit more abandon. His partner is there as something of a safety blanket, lessening the anxiety he may feel while standing over each shot.

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Bryson DeChambeau took advantage of that fact to unleash a blast that sent a message to Europe, and the long drivers he will compete against next week. While Jordan Spieth’s incredible pitch from an awkward lie that almost sent him tumbling into Lake Michigan was the shot of the morning session, DeChambeau’s incredible show of strength was the highlight in the afternoon.

With Scottie Scheffler safely in the fairway at the 581-yard, par-5 fifth hole, DeChambeau took the, ahem, aggressive line on the serpentine par-5. DeChambeau, who this year broke his own record for single-season driving-distance average (323.7 yards), teed his ball high, waggled and huffed and puffed to prepare his body to exert maximum energy on the unwitting golf ball.

His 417-yard blast over a lake and then a sea of sand left him with just 72 yards to the hole (Scheffler, by comparison had 274 yards remaining and Rahm was left with a 253-yard second shot after a 336-yard drive).

"I knew if it was a little downwind, I could take a unique line, and I luckily was able to have that wind today," DeChambeau said. "It was 20-plus (mph), and I said to myself, all right, I have to aim at the green, so I did.

"So I just aimed at the green and bombs away."

When DeChambeau arrived at the fifth tee with the wind at his back, Scheffler said "that was probably the most excited he's ever been on a golf course."

"That wind, we had it on one of our practice days, and we figured out what he needed to do, so to have an opportunity to do that in competition was amazing. I was jacked up for him as well," Scheffler said. "I think he pushed it a little bit, but he smashed it.

DeChambeau took advantage of the blast, wedging to 5 feet and making the eagle putt to tie the match. The U.S. pair was tied with Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton at the halfway point of their match. DeChambeau also nearly drove the 10th green and was greenside after his tee shot on the par-4 13th.

It took a Tyrrell Hatton birdie on 18 for he and Jon Rahm to tie Scheffler and DeChambeau. The United States leads, 6-2, after Friday's two sessions.