DeChambeau focuses on new driver and overpowering Augusta

Bryson DeChambeau is already pinning his sights on a) Augusta and b) some extraordinary new length off the tee and he's hopeful that it will come together in April.

The American's record at The Masters currently reads 21 (as an amateur), 38, 29, 34 and 46. For the last two visits there has been plenty of hype; in 2020 he labelled Augusta a par 67 while last last year he started strongly, with a (par) 67 before fizzling out as the week went on.

But, like Rory McIlroy but in a different sense, his will always be a name that is high up on the contenders' list in Georgia, for obvious reasons.

"You can put the par to whatever you want it to be. What I was saying was just based off of distances I was having in and relative length. People are going to take that the wrong way, and I never meant to be that way. It was always just it's kind of the way I'm thinking about the course as a strategy," explained the 28-year-old.

"It didn't really pan out. I played terrible, and it is what it is, right? At the end of the day, I look at it as Augusta is in my sights, and I want to win. There's nothing more I want to do to win."

Before too long the questions turned to distance and a new driver.

"Having the right equipment and going into playing consistent golf so I can get back on a schedule and feel comfortable is huge for me. So I definitely have my sights on Augusta and can't wait to see what I can do with this new length and new driver, less spin rate, more control. Hopefully, that's a huge asset for me when I play.

"I've been working on equipment for a long time now. We're getting very, very close to having something that works at 200mph ball speed where you can play on Tour with. It's awesome. I'm super happy with Cobra. We've done a really great job."

At last year's Open at Sandwich DeChambeau claimed that his Cobra driver 'sucks', something that he apologised for but now all seems rosey in the equipment garden.

"We came to a bit of a sticking point last year, and we burst through that wall and worked together to come up with something pretty cool. Ultimately, I have a driver that I've able to go 220mph ball speed with, which is really cool. They had that. They just don't have enough of them yet. We're working on it. It's just a supply issue from China."

As for the bit between the ears there are also some marginal gains being made there too, in percentages obviously.

"The mental game only affects me 10 per cent positive or negative on my skill set. That's why I work so hard because I'm always trying to improve the skill set because no matter my mental game, it wouldn't matter. But there was a point in time where that mental game encroached probably about 20-30 per cent in a negative way, and that was just not a good place, not a good feeling from numerous factors and whatnot."