ESQUITE, Nev.-TheshowwasoverforBrysonDeChambeauby1: 45 p.m.onTuesdayattheWorldLongDriveChampionships.AfterabriefautographsessionfollowingDeChambeau'sdazzlingopeninground,thecrowdhadbeguntodispersearoundhimattheMesquiteSportsComplex.Fansslowlyfiledbackinthedirectionoftheevent'sthreemainattractions: thebarbecuetruck, thebleachersandtherange.BrianZiegler, DeChambeau'scaddie, scoopeduphisboss'sthingsandmadetheshortwalkbacktothecar.ButDeChambeaudidnotfollow.Hewas50yardsahead, yukkingitupwithagaggleoflargehumanbeings.BrysonShow je trebao početi.
TenfeetinfrontofBrysonstoodthelongdriveking, KyleBerkshire.Berkshireissixfeet, withthickshouldersandbrownhairthathangswellbelowhisshoulders.Otherwise, hestandsoutamongthelongdrivecircuit'scastofsuper-villainlookalikesforhisregular-guyvibe-dobro, untilyouseehimhitagolfball.Berkshireisamemberofthelongdriveworld je "220club" -thegroupofplayerscapableofreachingballspeedsatorgreaterthan220mph.Hisswingisablur, hisclubwhippingwellbeyondhisheadandbackthroughagainwithimpossibleforce, reachingeven-manje-believabledistance.
DeChambeauov dan je bio obavljen, samo kao konkurent. Uostalom, kako je mogao preskočiti priliku da gleda na radnju svojih najboljih prijatelja?
DeChambeauandBerkshire'srelationshipisoneborneoutofintrigue.AsDeChambeau'sbegantobulkupinlate2019, hereachedouttoBerkshire, thenewlymintedWorldLongDrivechamp, aboutbestpracticesforaddingspeed.Quickly, thetworealizedtheysharedsimilarapproachestogolf, andsimilaroutlooksonthegame.Theysoonbegantrainingtogetherandafriendshipblossomed. "Wecanbouncethingsoffeachother, weunderstandwhateachotherdealswith" Berkshiresaid. "Očigledno, everythinghedoeshedealswithisfarmoreintensethanme, butIcanstillhaveanideaofit.Itreasureourfriendshipgreatly, andIthinkhedoes, too.Andit'sdefinitelyaverygenuineone, too.Thisisn "samo nešto što radimo za kameru."
Za Berkshire, DeChambeau je bio savršeni poduhvat—igrač talentovan da se treba takmičiti na najvišem nivou u igrici, ali kako je bio voljan da se potpuno posveti dodavanju udaljenosti i brzine. Za DeChambeaua, Berkshire je bio nešto mnogo više.
"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 .Pored područja za teeing, DeChambeausmiledas Berkshireuncorkeda 409 jardi vozi s mirom samo na ovom petom zamahu, skoro eclipsing njegov sveukupno najbolji.
Oni će provoditi više vremena zajedno prije nego što sedmica prođe, bez sumnje razmjenjujući nekoliko ratnih priča iz svog prvog zvaničnog prijateljskog takmičenja. Uglavnom će se dva najduža igrača golfa samo družiti i razgovarati.
O golfu, životu i najtežoj udaljenosti koju treba osvojiti – onoj između svojih.
"Mislim da je to najveća korist za oba," rekao je Berkshire o svom srodstvu sa DeChambeauom. "U glavi je dobro."