The US Open of 2020 was held at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. The Open saw Bryson DeChambeau win by a six-stroke lead, the lowest-ever score at the club. Unsurprisingly, Bryson’s performance left the spectators and fans in awe. But it also affected some of the other players there, like Rory McIlroy.

McIlroy saw Bryson fly through the course, while he ended the game at six over par. Rory has won four Majors in his career, and yet after he saw Bryson play, he decided he needed to make some changes to his game.

What McIlroy learned from his loss

Rory always believed that he played his best when he felt fit and light on his feet. On the other hand, DeChambeau bulked up and transformed himself into a hitting machine. Bryson’s size and strength gave him an advantage in terms of the speed and length of his drive. Rory picked up on that while he trailed 12 strokes behind him at Winged Foot.

Rory McIlroy decided he, too, needed to improve his speed, but that didn’t come without consequences. “Obviously, I added some speed and I am hitting the ball longer, but what that did to my swing as a whole probably wasn’t a good thing,” he said.

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While trying to increase his speed, it affected Rory’s swing adversely and left him frustrated. “I’m sort of fighting to get back out of that. That’s what I’m frustrated with.” But he also understands how that is part of the process. “It’ll take a bit of time, and the slightest change in your swing is going to feel uncomfortable for a while,” he said.

Rory McIlroy complimented DeChambeau

Despite being beaten by him, the world number 1 has nothing but praise for Bryson DeChambeau. “The one thing that people don’t appreciate is how good Bryson is out of the rough,” he said. He also went on to talk about his admiration for Bryson’s technique. “Not only because of how upright he is but because his short irons are longer than standard, so he can get a little more speed through the rough than us, than other guys.”

Bryson’s choices on the course during the Open were not exactly conventional, and yet they worked. Since then, McIlroy has been convinced he needs more speed in his swing. He believed other people thought that as well. “I think a lot of people saw that and were like, if this is the way they’re going to set golf courses up in the future, it helps. It really helps. “

Rory McIlroy, with his open acceptance of change, has shown the world how you can always better yourself. He has climbed his way back to world number 1 since his loss at Winged Foot. He also won the CJ Cup in South Carolina this year, showing that he has indeed improved his game and fixed his swing.

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But the question remains: if McIlroy rank number 1 by improving his game using Bryson’s techniques, then can DeChambeau do it for himself too?