Two weeks’ ago reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau posted a video on his various social media channels that showed him standing on the driveway of his home in Texas clad in a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and a Crushers hat.
By his feet was an artificial hitting mat. Behind him, two stories of floor-to-ceiling glass that makes up a large percentage of the front of his home on the outskirts of Dallas.
Out of shot, on the far side of the house, a drone camera focuses on an artificial green set up in DeChambeau’s back garden some 100 yards from the ‘tee’.
The hole is cut a few yards from the front edge of the green was the target for the shot making challenge DeChambeau was about to explain to his audience.
“This is day one of trying to make a hole-in-one over my house,” he says in the video. “And because it’s day one, I only get one ball.”
The challenge is supposed to get easier every day, with the two-time Major champion allowing himself one more shot for each day the hole-in-one evades him. But as things stand, Bryson is currently on Day 15 and has hit 105 balls. And he’s still without an ace.
Of course, there have been close ones. His first attempt – well, his first attempt on camera – ended up just 18 inches from the cup, which would have bought an abrupt, but impressive end to the challenge, but since then only a handful of shots have looked destined to drop before stopping just short of the hole or veering just right or left, or as in the case on day 14, being blocked by another ball that he has already hit. (Tip to BdeC – pay your neighbour to be on call to clear the green when a ball stops in front of the cup).
While DeChambeau’s accuracy with a lob wedge has not been quite on point, the interest from his legion of online fans has certainly hit the digital sweet spot. His trials and tribulations have so far attracted more than 50 million views on Instagram, with millions more fans tuning in on TikTok, YouTube and X.
While many hackers are no doubt tuning into see whether he knifes one into the acres of glass that are between his ball and the hole – he hasn’t really come close to hitting the house – others are simply routing for him to ace it.
And the challenge has spawned many a copycat spoof challenges by some, shall we say, less than proficient golfers trying to achieve the same feat over some less impressive properties with often disastrous consequences – fake and real.
Statisticians – and plenty of bookmakers – have been quick to assess the Crushers’ captain’s chances/odds of achieving his ace, with one giving each shot a 1 in 175 chance of dropping based on the quality of the player and the distance of the hole.
With every passing day Bryson’s task is statistically getting easier, as he has more balls to dial in his swing and his distances, with his odds of completing the job in the next couple of days estimated at around 55-60%, rising to over 90% by Day 30, should it go that far.
To follow Dechambeau’s hole-in-one challenge, visit www.instagram.com/p/DCU8iazyX9J/?hl=en
