ESQUITE, Nev.-TheshowwasoverforBrysonDeChambeauby1: 45 p.m.onTuesdayattheWorldLongDriveChampionships.AfterabriefautographsessionfollowingDeChambeau'sdazzlingopeninground,thecrowdhadbeguntodispersearoundhimattheMesquiteSportsComplex.Fansslowlyfiledbackinthedirectionoftheevent'sthreemainattractions: thebarbecuetruck, thebleachersandtherange.BrianZiegler, DeChambeau'scaddie, scoopeduphisboss'sthingsandmadetheshortwalkbacktothecar.ButDeChambeaudidnotfollow.Hewas50yardsahead, yukkingitupwithagaggleoflargehumanbeings.BrysonShowwasover, kar je pomenilo tudi oddaja, se je začela.
TenfeetinfrontofBrysonstoodthelongdriveking, KyleBerkshire.Berkshireissixfeet, withthickshouldersandbrownhairthathangswellbelowhisshoulders.Otherwise, hestandsoutamongthelongdrivecircuit'scastofsuper-villainlookalikesforhisregular-guyvibe-dobro, untilyouseehimhitagolfball.Berkshireisamemberofthelongdriveworld je "220club" -thegroupofplayerscapableofreachingballspeedsatorgreaterthan220mph.Hisswingisablur, hisclubwhippingwellbeyondhisheadandbackthroughagainwithimpossibleforce, reachingeven-manj-believabledistance.
DeChambeaujev dan je bil končan, samo tekmovalec. Kako bi lahko preskočil priložnost, da si ogledate dejanje svojih najboljših prijateljev?
DeChambeauandBerkshire'srelationshipisoneborneoutofintrigue.AsDeChambeau'sbegantobulkupinlate2019, hereachedouttoBerkshire, thenewlymintedWorldLongDrivechamp, aboutbestpracticesforaddingspeed.Quickly, thetworealizedtheysharedsimilarapproachestogolf, andsimilaroutlooksonthegame.Theysoonbegantrainingtogetherandafriendshipblossomed. "Wecanbouncethingsoffeachother, weunderstandwhateachotherdealswith," Berkshiresaid. "Očitno je, everythinghedoeshedealswithisfarmoreintensethanme, butIcanstillhaveanideaofit.Itreasureourfriendshipgreatly, andIthinkhedoes, too.Andit'sdefinitelyaverygenuineone, too.Thisisn "nekaj, kar počnemo za kamero."
Za Berkshire je bil DeChambeau popoln soudeleženec – igralec, ki je bil nadarjen, da bi moral tekmovati na najvišji ravni v programu, vendar se je bil pripravljen v celoti posvetiti dodajanju razdalje in hitrosti. Za DeChambeauja je bil Berkshire nekaj veliko več.
"Notmanypeopletodealwithwhatwedealwith, especiallywithwhatBrysondealswithonsocialmedia, andjustingeneral," Berkshiresaid. "Ithinkit'sreallycatharticforustohavethatoutletoftalkingtoeachotherand, youknow, workingthroughthingsandkindofdiscussingthings." Thetwospeakfrequentlybyphone, andtheytraintogetherinthelead-uptoPGAToureventswheneverBerkshirecanattend.HewastheoriginalarchitectofDeChambeau'shighlypublicizedspeed-trainingprogram, andmorerecently, hasservedasemotionalcounselthroughsomeofDeChambeau'shigh-profilestruggles.
"Ithinkthat'sthemostimportantthing, we'rereallygoodforeachotherwhenitcomestodealingwiththepsychological, thementalstuff," Berkshiresaid. "Peopledon'tunderstandwhenyou'reinthespotlight, thepsychologicaleffectthathas.Itcangettoughwhenyou'reseeingpeoplesayhorrendousthingsaboutyouoverandoverandover.Itgetstoyou.Soit'sgoodtobeabletotalktopeople." OnTuesday, DeChambeauandBerkshirecaughtupforafewminutesbeforeBerkshire'sfirst-roundsession, sharingafewlaughsandaquickphoto.AsBerkshirewalkedoverto "thegrid," DeChambeautrailedclosebehind .Poleg teeingarea se DeChambeausmiledasBerkshireuncorkeda409-yards vozi z brezhibnostjo šele ta peti zamah, skoraj eclipsinghisverllbest.
Pred začetkom tedna bosta skupaj preživela več časa, nedvomno si bosta izmenjala nekaj vojnih zgodb iz svojega prvega uradnega prijaznega tekmovanja. Večinoma pa se bosta dva najdaljša igralca golfa le družila in se pogovarjala.
O golfu, življenju in najtežji razdalji, ki jo je treba premagati – tisti med svojimi prvimi.
"Mislim, da je to največja korist za oba," je dejal Berkshi o svoji povezanosti z DeChambeaujem. "V glavi je v redu."