DeChambeau will putt with flagstick in after rules change in 2019
Bryson DeChambeau may have finally found the competitive advantage within the Rules of Golf he's been searching for. The 25-year-old plans to leave the flagstick in as much as possible in 2019 when the USGA's rule changes are implemented.
"It depends on the COR, the coefficient of restitution of the flagstick," DeChambeau said, according to Dylan Dethier of Golf.com. "In U.S. Opens, I'll take it out, and every other Tour event, when it's fiberglass, I'll leave it in and bounce that ball against the flagstick if I need to."
One of the major changes in the latest update to the Rules of Golf removes any penalty if a ball hits an unattended flagstick while in the hole, meaning golfers are free to leave the pin in at all times.
DeChambeau clarified that the ball has "a higher propensity for it to go in the hole if (the pin) is fiberglass compared to metal."
When the 25-year-old was first asked if he'd leave the pin in when he putts, he could barely contain his excitement.
"Oh, absolutely," he said. "The USGA's gonna have to go back on that one. Like, 'No! We made the hole bigger!'"
In his short career, DeChambeau has already tried getting away with side-saddle putting and using a drawing compass in his greens book, both of which were disallowed by the USGA.
