Bryson DeChambeau is keeping “The Kraken” on a leash at TPC Harding Park.
You wouldn’t know he’s reigning in his driver, though, looking at the PGA Championship stats.
Through the morning wave, DeChambeau was still leading the championship in driving distance, averaging 324.4 yards per drive on the designated driving holes and 308.7 yards on all drives.
While he wasn’t completely in attack mode Friday, he kept himself in the mix, fighting through a day filled with challenges.
DeChambeau grinded out an even-par 70, which left him at 2 under overall, six shots behind the leader, Haotong Li, through the morning wave.
DeChambeau hit just 4 of 14 fairways.
“I can't really let it rip out here this week,” he said. “Not to the full extent. I feel like the rough is too penalizing, and I'm trying to keep it in the fairway.
“Sometimes, the risk really isn't worth the reward.”
DeChambeau paid for his misses, making five bogeys against five birdies.
“I've got to do something special this weekend,” he said. “I think I can. I think I've got the firepower to do that. I've just got to hit some fairways. If I get that done, I feel like I'll be in better shape.”
There were frustrations in the wind and amid the rough.
“It's tough, but I think I'm doing a lot better job of controlling my emotion and really keeping my head high, no matter the situation,” DeChambeau said.
The emotions were tested watching his tee shot at the sixth sail right, with the wind pushing it farther off line, off a cart path. He said the wind was also a factor in his miss at the fourth.
“You're going to get some weird stuff happening to you, but you've got to do some things that are pretty special to win this tournament,” DeChambeau said. “I know I'm hitting the driver really well. I'm not going to say anything other than that. I am hitting it very well. I just misread the wind a couple times today.”
And yet DeChambeau said there was work to do on the range with his driver.
“I just felt like it was a little inconsistent in my spin axis for a draw, and I've just got to work on the range this afternoon to try and control that and hone that in,” he said. “If I can do that, I think I'll be good this weekend.”
